Hello –
I know that not all of you get the Diocesan emails. Here’s the latest from our Bishop about appropriate responses to the Coronavirus:
March 7, 2020
Dear friends in Christ,
With Sunday morning services less than twenty-four hours away, I know many of you are now weighing the difficult decision of whether to attend given the growing number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Bay Area. There are also ongoing questions pertaining to worship services themselves, particularly around whether they should be cancelled.
As your bishop, I share your concerns and questions. I and my senior staff are evaluating the open questions, with tremendous love and concern for our congregations, clergy and staff, and our surrounding communities. Because collective worship, especially the gathering of the local Christian community to take part in the Eucharist, is so central to our life together, the diocese is not recommending cancelling services at this time, provided our latest directives and guidelines (listed below) are followed. As you know, however, this is a rapidly evolving public health crisis (today’s Beloved Community Training Day was cancelled due to this new health advisory). As such, we are monitoring public health notices and will update our guidance as necessary.
At this moment, all churches in the Diocese of California, may hold services; however, I ask that they closely monitor their local public health department websites for the latest information. If for any reason, rectors and vicars feel uncomfortable holding a worship service or other church gathering due to concerns about coronavirus infection, they may cancel, with my blessings.
In the meantime, let me reiterate the following guidelines laid out in previous communications, with new advisories highlighted in bold type:
Guidelines
Lay and ordained leaders should not offer communion wine, either for sipping or by intinction, until we learn more about the nature of COVID-19 transmission and are confident the threat of mass infections has passed.
All those who touch the communion bread/wafers, including altar guild members, should wash their hands thoroughly before and after the liturgy (a minimum of 20 seconds) and use hand sanitizer during the service.
Church fonts and stoups should be drained and kept empty until further notice. This is to prevent contamination.
If you are in a vulnerable category —60+ years of age and/or have underlying health conditions (for example, lung disease, heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease and weakened immune system), please consider whether attending church services is the best option for you.
If you are staying away from worship because you are in a vulnerable category, please communicate your decision to your vicar or rector or other clergy person serving your community.
We are encouraging our diocesan staff to avoid meetings that bring in non-diocesan staff and instead hold them by phone or video conference. We encourage churches and diocesan institutions to implement telecommuting options for employees, where feasible.
If you are sick, please do not attend church services — both to heal and to protect the most vulnerable from infection.
At the peace, please consider alternatives to handshaking or hugging. A nod, a wave, or touching our hands to our hearts are among the many ways we can acknowledge Christ in one another.
Please take extra precautions to ensure worship and work spaces, and children’s areas (including toys) are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.
If space allows, consider placing extra waste baskets near doors (especially bathroom doors) with handles. This is to encourage people to use a tissue, paper towels, etc. as a barrier between their hand and the handles.
Please stay in communication with your clergy about sick and vulnerable members of your congregation to ensure they have an updated list for pastoral visitations and calls. Also, please take care to check in on other vulnerable people and populations in our community, as this is our Christian calling.
This Sunday would be a good time to try live-streaming your worship service through some easy platform, like Facebook Live. We may be forced in the coming weeks to use technology to make our worship services available to those who cannot attend, and a little practice can’t hurt!
Thank you for your flexibility and your understanding during this difficult time, and remember that we are always held in the encompassing care of the Holy Spirit, so we are people of hope, faith, and love.
+Marc