Saturday, March 14, 2020

Galatians Bible Study-Canceled

Hello All,

After much consideration, medical reading, and prayer and with a very heavy heart, I have decided to cancel the last two Galatians Bible Study sessions due to the Covid-19 situation. As many of you may have been reading, it is essential to practice social distancing as the virus spreads in Wisconsin-that is, maintaining a minimum of 6 feet between individuals to avoid contamination with droplets from infected individuals. Many infected individuals are asymptomatic for several days before developing symptoms, but are highly contagious. Social distancing (as well as good handwashing technique, remaining home when sick, etc) is one important method to “flatten the curve” (see below), hopefully resulting in reduction of the number of infected individuals with Covid-19 ,and  protection of precious health care resources such as ICU beds, respirators, etc. It is not possible to practice social distancing in the Fireside Cafe. Many of you know that I am a physician and, as a result, I feel an additional responsibility as a health care professional to protect the health of all. 

(For more information regarding “flattening the curve” see https://healthblog.uofmhealth.org/wellness-prevention/flattening-curve-for-covid-19-what-does-it-mean-and-how-can-you-help -this is from the University of Michigan medical school, there are many others readily available)

Our bible study is one of the highlights of my week-it is difficult to describe how much I will miss our discussions. However, we are fortunate to be able to view Jeff Cavins’ lectures on line so I encourage you to complete the remaining sessions on your own. If you do not have the information to access the on line lectures, please view them on our bible study blog: stjeromebiblestudy.blogspot.com. See the February 9 post.

I plan to send you the answers to the questions raised in the last few sessions. I also have an additional resource for the most recent lesson that we missed Friday and hope to have others for you as we move through the next two lessons. If you have questions, please email them to me and I will look for answers!

I hope to see you all in September for our next Jeff Cavins study: “James: Pearls for Wise Living”. Look for bulletin announcements beginning mid to late May. (this is the last Jeff Cavins study we will do)

I would like to sincerely thank Ann Sarnowski,  Mary Jo Gordon and Kathy Riley for preparing coffee for us every week. I would like to thank Mary Utzerath for the wonderful bake goods. And I would like to thank you all for your many inspiring contributions to our discussions!

God bless,
Krishna Smith