With the rapidly changing coronavirus situation, the elders met on both the mornings of March 11 and March 18. Both meetings were opened by Pastor Pat Abendroth with prayer for all of us to have a great appreciation for the salvation that is ours in Jesus Christ, for wisdom for our elders in particular, and also for those in civil authority over us, and also prayer for those who are suffering as a result of illness in these days.

We were led through Article 6 of the London Baptist Confession by Mike Holloway on the topic of "The Fall of Man."  

Frank Barber presented the financial report through the end of the month of February and we are in good shape. Our income for the fiscal year through February 29 was $409,711, which is $42,681 above our planned income.

Our expenses for the same time period were $301,632 which is $16,119 under our planned expenses. When considering depreciation, that gives us a net income of $79,955 at the end of February, which is very good. Our cash on hand is also strong at $503,575.

It is helpful that we are in good financial shape heading into March, because it is very possible that with the dramatic slowdown of the economy and the fact we are having to cancel Sunday services for we are not sure how long, the last half of our fiscal year could be very challenging financially.

Please keep our church in mind in your giving plans while we all go through this hard time. You can give securely online through our website or our app, or you can mail it to us through the good, old reliable U.S. Postal Service.

The next topic we tackled was the coronavirus situation and on our March 11 meeting we made many plans to do whatever we could to make attending church as safe as possible for everyone who would come.

Then on Friday, March 13, Governor Ricketts announced a limit on gatherings of more than 250 people, so we made a decision to follow the recommendation of the Governor, the Mayor, and our public health officials and cancel service on Sunday the 15th and instead livestream our Sunday service at 10:15 a.m..

We decided at that time to cancel all other ministry activities given the rapidly changing situation at least until the elders could meet again on Wednesday the 18th. 

Then on Monday, March 16, things changed again as Governor Ricketts announced, along with the Centers for Disease Control, that gatherings should be limited to no more than ten people.

That led to our decision at our meeting on the morning of March 18 to cancel all Omaha Bible Church services, ministries, and programs until the limits are lifted and the threat of illness has diminished. We realize that will be at least four to eight weeks and possibly longer.

During this time when we cannot hold traditional services, we have planned to have our pastors, elders, deacons, and Home Group leaders communicate regularly with the members and attenders of OBC through phone calls, text messages, emails, social media, our website, app, and any other means we can come up with so we can know how you and your family are doing in the midst of this crisis; how your job has been affected; to see if you need any help; and to ask how we can pray for you and your family.

You can expect us to be reaching out even though the rich face to face communication we usually enjoy on Sunday mornings, in Home Groups, and in various other ministries are not available to us.

Our Seniors Ministry headed up by Jeff and Sheryl Roach is also following up with some of the more senior members of our church to arrange help for them as needed.

It is very important that we show our love for one another by reaching out to each other, serving one another, and praying for each other in the coming weeks. Please don't be shy about letting your needs be known, as doing so will give others the privilege of ministering to you.

One other item we discussed is potentially adding more deacons to our present number, which is six. Names are being prayerfully considered for this vitally important office in our church. 

Both meetings adjourned with prayer.

Respectfully submitted,

Mike Holloway