There are 10 confirmed cases of Swine Flu in Madison County, AL where our son lives and is a student pastor in a big church. Chip has had a big "All-Nighter" on the youth calendar for this Friday night~~ something they have worked on for months. Well, this afternoon it has been canceled. I read Chip's letter to his teens and their parents on his ministry blog and found it to be informative as well as entertaining (don't miss the last line.) We don't have any cases in our state, but now that it has struck in Chip's very neck of the woods, it seems a bit more real to me!
CBSM Parents, Students, and Friends,
I regret to announce that the 2009 All-Nighter has been CANCELED. We will attempt to reschedule this event. Thank you all for your emails, responses, insights, etc. You may be asking, “Why are we shutting it down?” Well to be honest, this has come from the TOP. Both Pastor Zach and Mayor Finley of Madison have requested that we not host this event. I, of course, whole heartedly agree with them and support them.
Prominent city officials have closed schools and have requested for children and teenagers not to congregate together. We even had one of our own students jogging down Hughes Rd today with a buddy, and a policeman pulled over to tell them to “go home” because they don’t want kids congregating under any circumstances. As Christians, we take Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 very seriously (which says to obey our government officials). We desire to be a church who models obedience to such situations as these.
Because of the news conferences, official city emails, and police involvements, I decided to call the Police Department just to see if they would pull over our charter buses filled wall-to-wall with sweaty, paintball splattered, panting teens who’ve been playing and staying up all night. Although the publicity on the news and in the paper would get CBSM’s name out there even more…! The PD connected me to the Mayor’s office, and the Mayor’s secretary requested that I write Mayor Finley an email. A few minutes after that, Mayor Finley called to ask me not to have this event. His reasoning was that the city and state doctors are requesting to have everyone separated to get control over this swine flu possibility, so that this sickness will not get out of control, and we can resume to our normal lives as quickly as possible. The city or state does not want even one person spreading this to the 100 who were going to attend who would then pass it along to their families…and then the potential of it spreading exponentially from there. I know this is crazy far-fetched, but the point is the consequences and not so much the chances.
So, we will look into rescheduling this event at a late date…as soon as possible. This does include NOT having a worship service tomorrow night! We will of course reimburse every single student, family, and parent who has paid $35, but if you would like for us to hold on to the $35 in case of rescheduling or keep it in a fund for the next student event with your student’s name on it…we will do so!
Please pray for us pastors as we are working hard to decide on the right thing to do about Sunday services. I appreciate all of you who have worked hard to make this event happen (special thanks to DAN MUNOZ!), to the many of you ready and willing to serve, to all you students who have worked hard to invite your friends, and to all the students willing to brave this crazy sickness…risking your very lives…for an extreme night of worship and fun! Sorry, teens! I love you and desperately did not want to cancel, but it is the best thing for our health and the health of our community. I’ll hopefully see you all on Sunday. But if for any reason at all you start inadvertently grunting, snorting, oinking, or growing a squiggly tail…don’t come to church!
Only by His grace,
Chip Dean
Pastor to Students
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