DVPC and COVID-19

June 3, 2021 Update:

MASK POLICY: 

Beginning Sunday, June 6 we will no longer require masks to be worn at any  church function.

We know that some of you still have concerns regarding mask-wearing and we respect that. Therefore, if you want to wear a mask, please do so.  If you do not want to wear a mask, that’s fine as well.  We have space to spread apart, especially in the rear of the Fellowship Hall.  And we will continue to live-stream our morning worship service on YouTube.  Thank you for your patience and love for one another over these past 15 months!

DVPC Session

April 25, 2021 Update:

Worship: All worship services will be held in the Fellowship Hall until the opening of the new sanctuary. If you do not feel comfortable attending, we encourage you to watch a recording of the 8:30 a.m. worship service on YouTube at Draper’s Valley Presbyterian Church or listen to the audio available on our website www.dvpca.org . The YouTube video is available beginning at 11:00 a.m. on Sundays.

Fellowship time and Sunday School Opening Exercises are from 9:45 - 10:00. Sunday School begins at 10:00.

The Nursery (under age 4) is available during the 8:30 and 11:00 a.m. worship services on Sunday and at 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday evenings.

While the decreasing incidence of COVID infections and climbing vaccination rates are rapidly changing the way we are living, we remind you that masks are required at the 11:00 a.m. Sunday Worship Service.  For all other services and gatherings, masks are optional. Many are exercising great care not to be transmitters of disease to loved ones at home or are themselves wary of their compromised immunity and are wearing masks as a measure of precaution. Regardless of your beliefs regarding the effectiveness of masks, in Christian love for brother and sister, please follow the Session’s guidelines.

Offering plates are located in various areas in the Fellowship Hall. Plates/baskets are located on the table at the left front of Fellowship Hall, on the shelf at the right front of Fellowship Hall, and on the Kitchen window counter. You are also welcome to mail your checks to the church at 2755 Old Baltimore Rd, Draper, VA 24324 or through Electronic Giving. For information, please see or contact Frank Oglesby at 540-320-3731 or frank.oglesby@dvpca.org">frank.oglesby@dvpca.org .

New Building: The builders have extended the completion date of the new sanctuary until late May.

Parking is an ongoing difficulty and will be for some time. If you are able, please park closer to the road leaving the spaces near the building for those who may have difficulty walking.

There are a number of projects developing around our buildings and much is in motion. We appreciate your patience and helpfulness during these times, and we look forward to old spaces renewed and new spaces filled with joyful worshippers.

March 28, 2021 Update:

Worship:  All worship services will be held in the Fellowship Hall until the opening of the new sanctuary. If you do not feel comfortable attending, we encourage you to watch a recording of the 8:30 a.m. worship service on YouTube or listen to the audio available on our website www.dvpca.org . The YouTube video is available beginning at 11:00 a.m. on Sundays.

Fellowship time and Sunday School Opening Exercises are from 9:45 - 10:00. Sunday School begins at 10:00.

The Nursery (under age 4) is available during the 8:30 and 11:00 a.m. worship services on Sunday and at 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday evenings.

While the decreasing incidence of COVID infections and climbing vaccination rates are rapidly changing the way we are living, we remind you that masks are required at the 11:00 a.m. Sunday Worship Service.  For all other services and gatherings, we recommend you wear a mask. Many are exercising great care not to be transmitters of disease to loved ones at home or are themselves wary of their compromised immunity and are wearing masks as a measure of precaution. Regardless of your beliefs regarding the effectiveness of masks, in Christian love for brother and sister, please follow the Session’s guidelines.

Offering plates are located in various areas in the Fellowship Hall. Plates/baskets are located on the table at the left front of Fellowship Hall, on the shelf at the right front of Fellowship Hall, and on the Kitchen window counter. You are also welcome to mail your checks to the church at 2755 Old Baltimore Rd, Draper, VA 24324 or through Electronic Giving. For information, please see or contact Frank Oglesby at 540-320-3731 or frank.oglesby@dvpca.org">frank.oglesby@dvpca.org .

Parking is an ongoing difficulty and will be for some time. If you are able, please park closer to the road leaving the spaces near the building for those who may have difficulty walking.

There are a number of projects developing around our buildings and much is in motion. We appreciate your patience and helpfulness during these times, and we look forward to old spaces renewed and new spaces filled with joyful worshippers.

December 15, 2020 Update:

We are conducting almost all of our normal gatherings including Sunday morning worship at 8:30 and 11:00 and Sunday evening worship at 6:15. If you do not feel comfortable attending, we encourage you to live-stream our 11:00 a.m. worship service on YouTube or listen to the audio available on our website www.dvpca.org   

We will continue to live-stream our Sunday Morning Worship Service at 11:00 a.m., which is actually a recording of the 8:30 worship service.  This will hopefully cut down on the number of interruptions. 

The Nursery (under age 4) is available during the 8:30 and 11:00 a.m. worship services on Sunday and at 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday evenings.

Additionally, we are holding Sunday School at 10:00 AM, as well as Wednesday evening Prayer & Bible Study for Adults at 6:45 p.m. and Children & Youth Activities at 6:30 p. m.

Masks are now required at the 11:00 a.m. Sunday Worship Service. For all other services, we continue to recommend that you wear a mask when we gather at the church building.

Offering plates are located in various areas in the church. Aside from the Communion table, baskets are located on the table in the Vestibule, on the stand at the back of Sanctuary, the front pew of Annex, and on the counter in Fellowship Hall. You are also welcome to mail your checks to the church at 2755 Old Baltimore Rd, Draper, VA 24324 or through Electronic Giving. For information, please see or contact Frank Oglesby at 540-320-3731 or frank.oglesby@dvpca.org.

Saturday, November 21, 2020 Update:

BEGINNING NEXT SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29, MASKS WILL BE REQUIRED AT THE 11:00 A.M. WORSHIP SERVICE. For all other services we continue to recommend that you wear a mask when we gather at the church building. We will maintain Sunday worship, morning and evening, as well as Wednesday evening meetings sitting every other row when possible.

Saturday, November 14, 2020 Update:

Dear Brothers and Sisters of DVPC, 

On Friday afternoon Gov. Ralph Northam announced several new coronavirus restrictions to help curb the spread of the virus in the commonwealth. 

Among the increasing restrictions: 

• A reduction in public and private gatherings: All public and private in-person gatherings must be limited to 25 individuals, down from the current cap of 250 people. This includes outdoor and indoor settings. This limit does not affect schools, churches, capacity at businesses and offices. 

For the time being, we will continue to recommend that you wear a mask when we gather at the church building. We will maintain Sunday worship, morning and evening, sitting every other row when possible, and Wednesday evening meetings.  

We have three members with known cases of COVID 19: Garland Earhart, Mary Carico, and Jerry Johnson.  Please pray for them, others whom you know who are affected, and all of us as we seek to be wise, courageous, and full of hope in these challenging days. 

Tuesday, March 17, 2020 Update:

Dear Brothers and Sisters of DVPC,

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Ps. 121:1-2).

The Session of DVPC has decided to cancel all public meetings of the church until further notice. (This notice supersedes the notice sent out two days ago.)

In God’s Almighty providence a pandemic has intruded into our lives. The coming weeks and months may be significantly different than anything we have experienced before. But one thing remains - our Lord remains unchanged in His power and grace. Christians know with certainty “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1).

Every day brings a new understanding of the virus and thus hopefully a greater ability to treat and resist its spread. China is seeing a drop-off in the number of cases, but Europe, other parts of Asia, and the United States are still seeing a rise. While we in southwest VA have not seen a confirmed case of the coronavirus, health officials expect that we will soon.   Perhaps the greatest challenge is that the person carrying the virus does not know he or she has been infected until after already spreading it.

This means that the wisest course of action is to heed the call of health and government officials and seek to halt the spread of the virus by practicing social distancing. The president has suggested that we avoid gatherings of ten or more people. While such precautions may not stop the spread of the virus, they will likely lessen its impact and at the same time enable medical personnel to effectively deal with those who have been affected.

In response to this crisis, the Session of Draper’s Valley PCA has therefore determined the following course of action:  

We have decided to cancel all public meetings of the church until further notice.

We are working on ways to live stream a worship service at 11:00 on Sunday mornings. We will send you information regarding how you may watch the service on your computer, tablet or phone. After the service, we will also email you an internet link so that you can listen to the worship service audio at another time.

We will email a prayer list on Wednesday and encourage you to pray in your families throughout the week. The church building is always open if you would like a quiet place to pray.

We encourage you to continue giving your weekly tithes and offerings and your contributions to the Building Fund. You can mail them to the church at 2755 Old Baltimore Rd., Draper, VA 24324, Attention: Frank Oglesby, or give electronically (please see instructions at the end of this letter).

While many things have changed and many people are challenged by these new circumstances, this is an opportunity for the Church to show forth the love of Christ, our confidence in our God, and hope and trust in His Sovereign mercy.

We should look for opportunities to love and serve others, remembering the call of Philippians 2:4 – “Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others.” Some people are afraid. Be willing to pray with and for them, tell them of the God of grace who looks after those who belong to His Son.

We encourage you to reach out to other members, particularly those who live alone.

We should also look beyond ourselves and think about ways to serve within the community – reaching out to neighbors, etc.

We should take this health situation very seriously, if for no other reason so that you will not be a carrier of this virus to others. This is one way to love our neighbors.

Be prepared to share resources with others in need.

This is a great opportunity to teach our children and ourselves that God uses all things – even the Coronavirus – for the good of His people (Rom. 8:28).

While the Coronavirus has suddenly descended upon us it has not occurred apart from the knowledge and sovereign rule of the God who loves us and cares for us. Let us encourage you to set an example to your non-Christian family and friends of the difference that faith in Jesus makes.

Please communicate to us your needs and be watching for church notifications via email. Let us pray for one another and for our world, standing amidst this crisis with hearts uplifted by God’s mighty Word.  

In His grace,

The Session of DVPC

Electronic Giving

ONLINE BANKING   If you already use online banking – the easiest way to set up a regular transaction is through your bill pay app. Simply designate Draper’s Valley Presbyterian Church as a regular payment recipient and set up a schedule and your bank will send a check to the church address.

ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFER   Similar to above, EFTs are set up online or in person at your bank. Your bank will make a withdrawal from your account and send it electronically to DVPC’s bank account. Your bank may charge a fee to do this. DVPC has set up a special bank account to receive these funds. You will need to obtain this account and routing number from our collector Frank Oglesby. (540-320-3731 or frank.oglesby@dvpca.org">frank.oglesby@dvpca.org )

TITHE.LY   This is an internet program/app for churches that offers debit and credit card giving and electronic transfer of funds. It charges your account and credits DVPC. There is a small transaction fee for this service of 2.9% + $0.30 for each transaction on debit/credit cards or 1% + $0.30 on direct deposit (EFT) transactions. There is also an option for the giver to cover the transaction fee. https://tithe.ly/give?c=1307237

Monday, March 16, 2020 Update:

DVPC Worship and Activities Schedule

Dear Brothers and Sisters of DVPC,

The Christian lives with confidence in God’s Sovereignty and a responsibility to exercise wisdom and prudence as we seek to love God and love our neighbor.

With the increasing spread of COVID-19, the DVPC Session has made the following decisions for the following 14 days (until Monday, March 30th).  These decisions may change before then or may be extended past that date as the situation develops.

We encourage you to determine what you will do on a personal basis. If you are ill, susceptible to further illness, or in regular contact with large numbers of people, wisdom may preclude you from joining us at DVPC. That is fine. We hope to live stream our 11:00 worship service this coming Sunday. Please watch for an email about how you can connect on your computer or phone.

We will continue with our Sunday schedule of meetings; 8:30 & 11:00 A.M. and 6:15 P.M. Worship and Sunday School classes.  

There will not be any food served at Fellowship time. If you normally attend the 11:00 service you might want to come at 8:30 to have more space between worshippers.

On Wednesdays, there will be no meal served and no classes. For those who would like to meet to pray, our pastors will lead a time of prayer in the sanctuary beginning at 6:45 P.M.

All other church-sponsored activities are canceled.

We realize that there is a great deal of information and misleading information regarding this issue.  The Session is seeking to do what is best for all. We appreciate your prayers for us and for the Glory of God to be manifest in our life together as a church.

If you have any needs and/or cannot get out please let us know. There are brothers and sisters waiting to serve you.

In the love of Christ,

The Session of DVPC

Day of Fasting and Prayer

March 15, 2020

Dear brothers and sisters of DVPC,

Along with our regular scheduled worship and Sunday School  we have been asked by the moderator of our presbytery to make it a day of fasting and prayer. (Fasting would be 1 meal of your choice)

The session of DVPC will keep you up to date as our situation changes regarding meetings and activities.

Please read the announcement below:

Several of the elders within our presbytery had contacted the Stated Clerk and myself in recent days, inquiring as to whether we might declare a Day of Fasting and Prayer in light of the ever-developing COVID-19 pandemic.

Our Westminster Confession of Faith 21-5 tell us, in part, "... solemn fastings...are, in their several times and seasons, to be used in an holy and religious manner."

Given the current plight facing our nation, indeed our entire world, it seems most fitting that the Church of Jesus Christ might give herself over to prayer and fasting, in a specially pointed way, in the face of these events. 

Let us set aside dedicated time tomorrow (the Lord’s Day, March 15, 2020) to fast and to pray: for the protection of our nation, for God’s mercy upon our citizens, for the sick and suffering, our leaders and elected officials, the surely exhausted workers in the healthcare industry, and particularly for our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world who may be in special peril of health or physical danger. 

Given how this season may or may not play out, the presbytery may deem it prudent to appoint additional days of fasting and prayer.

Yours in the Lord Jesus, 

Sean Morris

Moderator - 2020 

Blue Ridge Presbytery

Sean G. Morris

The President of the United States has also declared tomorrow (March 15) to be a National Day of Prayer for the same reasons. 

March 13, 2020:

Dear brothers and sisters of DVPC

A number of folks have been asking about DVPC’s response to COVID 19. Let us give you a brief report on what we are thinking.

As of today, we are still operating as always with Sunday School and our regular stated worship services morning and evening on the Lord’s Day and Wednesday night suppers, classes and prayer time.  Additionally, all other scheduled activities continue to meet. The Session will gather on Saturday, March 21 ^st and will discuss if any changes need to be made.

In the meantime, we encourage you to continue to live like Children of the King. God is sovereign, he has allowed this virus to exist and to spread, he will not forsake his children and he calls us to live wise, temperate, godly lives.

Practically, we are called to preserve life, so we must practice good hygiene, be thoughtful of others, particularly those who have lower tolerances to disease.  We must continue to meet together as God commands unless we are providentially hindered by illness or distance.  Love for our neighbor requires consideration when we greet them, recognizing they may be concerned about healthy practices in different ways than we. Thinking the best of your brother or sister requires you not to be offended if they do not meet your handshake or greeting in like manner.

In short, at any time, and particularly in the present, we need to be thanking God for his provision and care of his church, rejoicing together in worship and fellowship as often as possible, and caring for one another with love and consideration.

If you do not think it wise to attend our public gatherings, either because you are ill or fear becoming ill, we encourage you to stay at home and continue in the private means of grace, Bible reading, prayer, and as much Christian fellowship as you can via small groups, the telephone or other means. Our Sunday worship services are available to listen to on our website at DVPCA.org

Finally, continue to pray that God in his mercy will slow and stop the spread of this virus and pray for your brothers and sisters who are ill or unable to be with us.

If you have any needs and/or you are unable to get out due to sickness please contact the Deacons or your Elder. Their names are on the back of the church bulletin.

May the Lord bless us in these days.

In the love of Christ,

The Session of DVPC