Over the past 44 days, we have not been able to meet together in our building, but it has been my hope that we have maintained not only personal connections through these posts but that our faith has also been strengthened. Welcome today to the post for Tuesday, April 28, my name is Paul Capps, pastor of Peachtree Baptist Church. 

Yesterday I had a zoom call with over 20 other pastors facilitated by Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Georgia and there was general consensus that we as church leaders should be careful and conservative when it comes to opening the doors of our buildings for worship, discipleship and fellowship. Those with plans in place are hoping to begin that process no earlier than May 31, which also happens to be Pentecost. I think it makes a lot of sense to be together on this, and so I am going to follow suit. There are so many considerations, like toilet use, use of hymnals and worship guides, food and drink, Communion, whether to require masks, whether to provide gloves, and so much more. Personally, I don’t think anyone should be here for worship if all of us can’t be here, and so we will wait until that time. I would rather see all of your smiles on zoom than masks in pews. Right now, this is what coexisting with the virus looks like; we will make adjustments as time progresses.

So with all that, I also want to share with you an article I read yesterday from my alma mater, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. As our church is a representative of global Christianity, it was one of the best things I’ve read about this global pandemic thus far.

I hope it was as helpful to you as it was to me. As we have been taking a deep look at the initial thrust of the multi-cultural mission that God launched through Jesus and his promise of the Spirit in Acts 2, we need to once again hear that we are called into the world to respond to God’s love for it. I am grateful to be a small part of that movement here at PBC.

—Paul

From the Center for Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary,