***NEW COVID UPDATE***

Due to the emergency ordinance issued by the City of Columbia on September 8, and in light of the recent spike of positive cases of COVID-19 in our community that has affected our hospital systems, we are encouraging everyone to wear a mask while attending Sunday School, worship and other activities at First Baptist Church of Columbia.

Like many of you, we have been alarmed by the spike that has so dramatically affected our whole community. We have observed an increase of people in our congregation who have tested positive for the virus with some experiencing very serious symptoms – even fatal. Clearly, we are not where we would like to be as a community with regards to controlling the spread of this virus and are heartbroken for the families and friends being personally affected. Therefore, we have made recent decisions to shift some of our church programming and postpone other activities until the numbers level out. We now believe we need to issue further guidance so that we can continue meeting indoors and in person, which is our greatest desire.

We remind you to avoid attending our programs and activities if you are sick, running a fever, showing symptoms of COVID-19 infection, or have been exposed to someone who has tested positive. These are a couple of good ways to help us not spread the virus at church.

Finally, we would ask everyone to remain prayerful during these trying times.