Greetings Mt. Olive:

Over a year ago after we shut down and persons/groups began suing the Governor to reopen churches, I quoted from the Midrash (Jewish commentary on scripture which dates back to the 11th century) in a sermon. I said this:

We should disregard one Sabbath for the sake of saving the life of a person, so that he may observe many Sabbaths.

I believed that a year ago and I still believe it today. It would be a tragedy for me to reopen the church, only for someone to get sick.

As you should know, I watch information concerning the spread of the coronavirus very carefully, and I have become particularly concerned about the new Delta variant. The virus mutates as it is able to spread among a population and this Delta variant is exceptionally concerning because of how easily it is transmitted from person to person. A good friend and colleague of mine in the medical community told me yesterday that the Delta variant can be transmitted in a matter of seconds; just walking past a person is enough to transmit this variant.

The only protection we have against the coronavirus and any variants, including this Delta variant is to be fully vaccinated. Currently here in NC, only about 53% of the population is fully vaccinated. The CDC recommends that at least 70% of the population needs to be vaccinated in order to stop the spread of this virus; but we also know that viruses do not respect State borders. Currently, only about 60% of the US population is fully vaccinated.

Being fully vaccinated is essential to our being able to open safely. Again, we should disregard one Sabbath for the sake of saving a life. Over the next few weeks, we will see more persons on Sunday under limited conditions, but these persons have been fully vaccinated. However, before totally reopening the church, it is important for me to know how many within the congregation have been fully vaccinated. A Vaccination Survey has been emailed to you and it is posted on both our FB page and website. For those who do not have access to social media, there are forms at the church that you can come by and pick up and you will be contacted by your Class Leader. It is vitally important that you complete this survey so that I can know the vaccination status of this congregation. Remember, we really do not have the room/space to properly social distance everyone, so the only safe way to return to regular services is to have everyone vaccinated. So please, complete the Survey and submit it so that we can have an accurate count of how many have been vaccinated within Mt. Olive.

https://s.surveyplanet.com/-_GAqBRUv

Sincerely,

Rev. Dr. Reginald Broadnax