A Proactive COVID-19 Response
An e-mail was sent to the congregation on Wednesday, October 28, 2020. It states as follows:
Dear Church Family,
As the temperatures drop and as we get closer and closer to another busy season in our lives, the Coronavirus seems to be preparing to come back with a vengeance. On October 23rd, the United States hit an all-time high of roughly 85,000 new cases. Leon County and our own town of Centerville have seen more cases recently. It has even recently infected and impacted the lives of some of our church family.
When facing this pandemic, we have two choices: we can be proactive or reactive. As a church, we are choosing to be proactive and control our response to the Coronavirus before it controls us. Our church's Coronavirus policy has been created and written with all members of our transitional leadership board present: Lana Marcus, Tommy Neyland, Marjean Mallard, Brian Hill, Jeff Miller, Margaret Runion, Neshia Keeling, Linda Isbell, Dale Reeder, and I. With this being said, the following policy will be effective as of Sunday, November 1st.
I know this is an incredibly difficult and often scary time. We appreciate your grace and understanding as we work to stay ahead of the Coronavirus and work to keep our church family safe. By working together, we can slow the spread and keep the church open with opportunities for fellowship and discipleship.
In Christ,
Rev. Patricia Lund
Dear Church Family,
As the temperatures drop and as we get closer and closer to another busy season in our lives, the Coronavirus seems to be preparing to come back with a vengeance. On October 23rd, the United States hit an all-time high of roughly 85,000 new cases. Leon County and our own town of Centerville have seen more cases recently. It has even recently infected and impacted the lives of some of our church family.
When facing this pandemic, we have two choices: we can be proactive or reactive. As a church, we are choosing to be proactive and control our response to the Coronavirus before it controls us. Our church's Coronavirus policy has been created and written with all members of our transitional leadership board present: Lana Marcus, Tommy Neyland, Marjean Mallard, Brian Hill, Jeff Miller, Margaret Runion, Neshia Keeling, Linda Isbell, Dale Reeder, and I. With this being said, the following policy will be effective as of Sunday, November 1st.
- We require that everyone wears a mask on campus. This has been the most effective way to help slow the spread of the virus. It is the easiest way we can love our neighbors in this time.
- Ushers will direct church attendees to their seats. We will be recruiting ushers to help sit people in the sanctuary in a social-distanced way. Seating will begin at the front and move to the back. We will be seating people in household units.
- We will begin keeping records to help with contact tracing. This may take place in different forms throughout the weeks so bear with us! We may be taking your picture during the service and asking directly for guest contact information. This is to help in the event that someone attends church and later finds out they have the virus--we want to be sure those in close proximity are the first to know!
- Food servers are required for any food-related event with more than 10 people. Please do not help yourself to food in groups larger than 10.
- If you are experiencing any of the Coronavirus symptoms, please stay home. Coronavirus symptoms include, but are not limited to, fever, coughing, shortness of breath, chills, fatigue, body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion, runny nose, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. This is a vast list of symptoms and it is often tempting to brush off symptoms as allergies or a cold. However, we do ask that if you experience these symptoms that you do not come on campus--we do not want to take the risk of exposing others to the virus.
- If you have contracted Coronavirus and were at the church prior to your diagnosis, please let us know. This is not to shame you--we want to pray for you and help you as best we can. We will respect your privacy and not announce your name. We also need to do contact tracing for others who may have been around you. Contracting the virus is nothing to be ashamed of and by being honest about it, we can do our best to stop the spread in our community more quickly.
- All children and youth activity will continue with the school schedule. If, for any reason, the schools shut down due to the Coronavirus, we will cease children and youth activities for that period of time.
I know this is an incredibly difficult and often scary time. We appreciate your grace and understanding as we work to stay ahead of the Coronavirus and work to keep our church family safe. By working together, we can slow the spread and keep the church open with opportunities for fellowship and discipleship.
In Christ,
Rev. Patricia Lund