SV Update
5.22.2020
Good afternoon,
Today, we have a few updates from ministries and teams of Severns Valley.
Sr. Adult Ministry
Our Sr. Adult Pastor, Emory Riley, shares some wonderful ways we are seeing how God is moving in and through our Sr. Adults.
Our Senior Adult Ministry spans four decades. We have 415 resident members between the ages of 65 and 105! It is inspiring to see that within this group the love and care they have for each other. In fact, many of our volunteers are Senior Adults themselves!
First, we would like to say thank you to our Deacons and volunteers who specifically take care of our Nursing Home and Homebound Members. Your watchcare over them is a blessing.
Our Small Group leaders have been faithful to check on and minister to their members. Running errands, doing odd jobs and meeting needs as they see them. Small group members have gone to homes to pray and sometimes sing hymns. We are thankful for the teachers and volunteers who have delivered next quarter’s literature.
We have three Senior Adult Small Groups meeting together through Zoom and one by conference call each week. Which leads me to say how proud we are of our Senior Adults and their leaders for learning new technology so that they can still come together for Bible Study and fellowship. If you’d like to join one of these Small Groups, please email emory@sv.church and we will help you get connected.
Our Kitchen Staff has provided meals twice a week for Warm Blessings to deliver to Senior Adults in our community. We also have church members who have helped deliver meals through our local school system.
Many of our church members have adopted a Senior Adult to call or to send cards. One church member called and asked if we knew of one of our Senior Adults she could share food with. She loves to cook and always had leftovers and wanted to be a blessing to someone.
We are encouraged over and over again to hear of acts of kindness that our church members have done on their own. Not because it was an organized event but because they responded to the leadership of the Holy Spirit and reached out to our Senior Adults. If you have a need or know of someone who does, please call the church office, 270.765.7822 or email info@sv.church so we can be the hands and feet of Jesus.
To our Senior Adults we want to say we love you. You are an essential and valuable part of Severns Valley. Your health and safety are a priority for us. Your faithfulness to continue to give sacrificially in these uncertain times has allowed us to continue to minister “Here, Near and Far.” We are blessed by your faith and confidence in the Lord during this Pandemic. You have inspired and encouraged us by your attitude in this time of isolation.
James 5:16 says, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” We know you are praying for us and we feel the strength that comes from those prayers. Please know that we are praying for you. We look forward to the day when we can all be together again to worship and study God’s word. Until then, may the Lord bless you and keep you!
Lead Pastor Search Team Update
The Lead Pastor Search Team wants everyone to know about the progress in finding our Lead Pastor. The Team describes the search into “5 Phases.” We are moving from Phase 2 – Foundation into Phase 3 – Public stage of the search. The Public Stage is when our search group, Context Staffing, is working their vast network and combing through applications while the team is considering and vetting strong candidates.
To read the entire update from the Lead Pastor Search Team go to: sv.church/pastorsearch.
Re-Gathering
We are very excited to begin meeting together for worship. For us to Re-Gather we need to know who is ready and feels comfortable in coming to our worship services. Planning is crucial to our having services that provide a safe and secure environment for all to come and worship.
Last week we sent out a Re-Gathering Survey to find out who feels ready to come to our first worship service. This survey to date has been answered by 253 individuals representing a household. Today, May 22nd, is the last day to respond to the survey.
We will use this information to determine:
- If we need 1 or 2 services
- The times of the services
- The number of volunteers needed to Re-Gather
Speaking of plans, things will look much different when we Re-Gather. Here are a few of the ways things will look differently:
- We will only use 4 specific entrances to the church
- Everyone will need to stay social distanced, 6ft apart
- We will all be wearing masks
- Those in a household will be ushered into the Worship Center
- After the service, we will be released by rows from the Worship Center
And this is just a small example of changes that will be taking place for us to Re-Gather.
There are many things we must consider when we Re-Gather:
- Some may not feel comfortable immediately coming back to a worship service.
- Some families with younger children will find it difficult to come since we will not be able to have SVkids ministries.
- Those who are in the high risk group, or those who have someone in this high risk group living in their home, may be concerned about their health and decide not to come.
To all those who feel like they may need to wait, we totally understand. We support your decision to stay at home and continue to worship with us via Cable TV, live streaming, and radio.
It grieves us that some, in the at risk group, believe we don’t want them to come. That is not true. Our heart, our concern is for your safety. The last thing we would want is for you to come and get sick. If you feel comfortable in making the decision to attend our worship services, you will be warmly welcomed. We’re sorry we can’t give you a hug!
Please, Please, Please hear us say, we want anyone who feels comfortable, who is not sick, who doesn’t have COVID-19 symptoms to come and join us in worship. Everyone, all ages, all ethnicities, all people are welcome to come. If you are sick, we have a long standing policy asking you to stay and home and get well. We will see you when you’re feeling better.
We are taking these measures to provide a safe environment for everyone to come to worship our Lord. We want people to be able to focus on what God has to say to them and for them to worship without concern for their health.
Especially during this pandemic time, we need to focus on how scripture tells us to live and act. Paul give us great council…
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” Galatians 5:22-26 (CSB)
We love you and miss you dearly. We look forward to the day we can join together, as a family, and worship our Lord and Savior with renewed excitement and expectation.
Your Staff and Church Council
Recent Comments