Dear Avondale Family,
Carrie, the Kids, and I miss you all very much and pray for the time when we can be together again. As many of you know, this week the Governor of NC shared his plan of moving to Phase 1 for reopening the state. While this was encouraging news, he was quick to state that the Stay at Home order is still in place and Phase 1 only allows for more reasons to leave the home.
To be better prepared, the leadership of Avondale has put together a Task Force to evaluate and plan for our reopening at Avondale. This is a challenging task with many scenarios to consider. Once a safe plan is developed and adopted by the Session, we will communicate it to you. Until then, we humbly seek your prayers for the Task Force and the Session as we work to keep everyone safe.
All of us long to be together, but with such a vulnerable demographic we simply have to mitigate the risk of exposing anyone. In the meantime we will continue to offer worship online, Zoom education opportunities, as well as Youth fellowship. We continue to explore new and creative ways for keeping folks connected and to offer care.
For now, we ask that you will continue to offer prayers, check on your fellow Avondalers, notify me or another member of our staff team with any pastoral concerns, and practice the spiritual disciplines of what the Apostle Paul calls “fruits of the spirit.” These are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. If each of us does these things then we will surely endure and overcome these challenges.
Thank you my friends for your continued love and support. Stay safe, wash your hands, and we will see you all soon.
Grace & Peace,
Jim
