Leading with Wisdom and Grace

Our COVID-19 Safety/Infection Protocols

Recently our elders have been wrestling with the question facing all leadership teams this year…what if someone tested positive for COVID-19 after they were at church?

First, we have safety protocols in place that greatly reduce transmission, so even if someone was asymptomatic while they were at church, the chance of transmission would be low.

We require masks. These indeed reduce transmission rates. Ask the doctor who performs surgery on you.

We encourage hand hygiene before you enter and leave the church campus. Hand sanitizer dispensers are located at all entrances.

All our spaces are socially distanced to six feet. Moisture droplets from our mouths and noses fall to the ground within a six-foot perimeter of a person. Our surfaces are disinfected after every meeting in every meeting space at the church.

The Sanctuary ventilation system does not recirculate air. It is sucked in from outside, passes through filters and then is heated or cooled.

Furthermore, if someone unknowingly attended a church event and tested positive a few days later, we would hope that out of love and concern for their fellow church members, they would let the church know. We would then do contact tracing and notify those who came within close proximity to that person.

If this happened in a kids Sunday school class, the parents of all the children who were in class that day would be notified.

If this happened at a youth event, all the kids attending the event and their parents would be notified.

If this happened on staff, the staff person would work at home and not be allowed to return to work until they tested negative, and we would contact people they had close contact with.

If this happened at a Sunday morning worship service, we would try to contact everyone that person had contact with.

The good news is that no one has gotten sick with COVID-19 by being at church. Our safety protocols are working. Frankly, we are safer at church than we are at a restaurant or out shopping.

If you want to read our safety protocols in detail, I have attached them. Click the buttons below to view them. They cover the protocols for the building and worship times, staff, student ministry and kids ministry.

We have done our best to create a safe environment for all. Some churches are still shut down and not meeting. We believe it is possible to meet for worship and fellowship and still be safe. So far, our experience has proved to be the right course of action. We will continue to navigate this uncharted territory by collecting the best data we can and listening to wise and medically informed voices. Of course, we will also listen to the Lord and the collective voices of our 24 elders.

I know there are all kinds of opinions out there. In such an environment, the best we can do is make the wisest choice we can and then extend grace to others. No one alive today has led through a pandemic. This is a time that calls for high grace. Such grace seems to be lacking in our country, but the fountain of grace, lives within us. We can draw from Him in all kinds of situation.

Blessings to you,
Pastor Stan

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