10/27/20. On Oct. 19, Governor Jim Justice announced that a total of 18 Covid-19 outbreaks were directly traced back to church services in West Virginia.
The outbreaks have been reported in the following counties: Berkeley, Doddridge, Harrison, Logan, Mason, Mercer, Monroe, Nicholas, Putnam, Upshur, Wayne, Wetzel, and Wood.
Governor Justice continues to keep the state updated with this situation. He highly recommends that everyone wear masks, stay a pew apart, wash hands frequently, prevent singing and follow US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines as well as local health department’s recommendations when it comes to hosting in-person church services.
Additionally, as a follow-up, Justice is encouraging online services as much as possible, stating that “you can get your services online.”
Locally, it was just reported yesterday on Facebook that Hope’s Point Baptist Church in Weston has reported a positive case of Covid-19 for someone that recently attended an in-person service. This adds Lewis County to the list of counties mentioned above. We ask that you please take some time out of your day to pray for Hope’s Point Baptist Church, their congregation and their respective families.
Lewis County currently has 18 active Covid-19 cases, which was last updated on the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (WV DHHR) website on Monday.
St. Matthew United Methodist Church continues to monitor the situation with our Relaunch Team. St. Matthew is very fortunate to have the type of technology required to stream services online and continue to keep the church connected online, and we all continue to emphasize and not forget, just as Michael Mick pointed out during his sermon a couple of weeks ago, that “We are the church.”
We appreciate everyone’s understanding and patience as well as your ongoing support. Thank you.