It is hard to let the storm of the century go by without comment. The problem is we have had two storms of the century this year! As far as we know, everyone in the JIBC family has survived this flood. Almost everyone got by with no damage at all…a miracle in itself. Several have reported some flooding and some roof damage from trees. Please know that your JIBC family is available to help. Please do not face these tough times alone. If you have a need that has not been addressed, let us know as soon as possible. We will see how we can help. Thanks for checking on your neighbors, friends and the elderly. Again, let us know if we can help. We are not looking for work, but we are prepared to help where we can.
RARELY DO WE MISS WORSHIP SERVICES
As of Saturday night around 8 pm we were planning to have worship services this past Sunday morning at 8:30 and 11:00. Janie and I were at our daughter Erin’s house until 11:30 Saturday night. When we went home, we met several cars submerged past their front lights. We back tracked and found a long, but drier way home. We got home just before midnight and continued listening to the worsening weather projections. I sent a text out to the staff…they were all still awake monitoring the storm as well. We decided to wait until Sunday morning at 6:00 am to make the final call. Actually, the roads from my house to the church house were clear. Many of our folks could not get out at all. Some had water up to their doors, some had it in their homes, several were without power. All were safer at home than risking coming out. The Governor had requested everyone stay off the road if at all possible. We made the call by 6:10 to cancel the services. We got the word out on face book, texted as many as we could and called the news outlets to get on their announcement boards.
NOT AN EASY CALL
As you can imagine, even making the right call is not an easy call. For the safety of our members and in respect the first responders who must be out on the roads, we decided…no services at JIBC. It makes it even harder when it is a first Sunday of the month, the Sunday of our largest offering. The impact of missing one week’s offering is a small price to pay for the safety of our church family and community. Thank you for your faithfulness to our Lord and His church at James Island Baptist. We look forward to seeing you this Sunday, good Lord willing and the …oh, let’s forget the rest of that saying!
Pastor Tom
