Dear Bethesda Family,
As of this morning's forecast, it looks like Irma is coming this way and that the Town of Palm Beach will evacuate. Of course, this could change over the next 48 hours, but at this point, we need to focus on preparing for this storm. We have a good hurricane plan for Bethesda that we are executing as we speak, and we have made the following adjustments to our schedule:
- All programs and meetings from now through Saturday are cancelled or postponed
- The office will close at noon tomorrow; we will let you know when it reopens
- If no evacuation is ordered we will have worship at 8:00 and 10:00 on Sunday
- If there is an evacuation, we will not have any worship or programs on Sunday
- The Ministry Fair is postponed
- The induction, welcome, and pounding party for Father Thomas is postponed
Our hope is that, depending on how quickly recovery goes, we will have the Ministry Fair and welcome for Father Thomas on the 17th, but we will make that decision at a later date when we know more.
I hope everyone who is in South Florida is making appropriate preparations for this storm and has a safe place to be. For those of you not down here, we will be most grateful for your prayers. Please let us know if there are any pastoral issues we need to address in this critical time.
Eli and I, along with Father Thomas, are making our plans to leave the island in due time and to stay further inland, though given the varying predictions of the path, it's difficult to say where will be the best place to go.
I will send regular Irma updates by email and Facebook as I am able to do so.
Blessings to you all,
James+
