COVID-19 Guidance?

Hi John. CRC Chaplaincy just posted this resource that might be of use to you and others as you think about how to prepare for and respond to coronavirus in your church community.

This is what we sent to our congregation on March 4th.  We will follow up this week with more information.  We are putting together a Task Force who will keep on top of this matter for our Council.

Memorandum To: Members of Fleetwood Christian Reformed Church  
From: Council  Date: March 4, 2020  
RE: COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Precautions   

Fleetwood Christian Reformed Church Council is monitoring the developments surrounding the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus). To date we have not put any restrictions on any church activities, worship services or celebration of the Lord’s Supper. We will continue to monitor the situation and will advise according to the recommendations of Fraser Health Authority and the BC Centre for Disease Control.   

For now, we will continue to follow the best practices accepted for the cold and flu season and we encourage you to exercise vigilance and discretion as you participate in church activities. Distributing the elements of the Lord’s Supper will continue as usual but we may adjust this, if necessary, to help prevent the transmission of germs from one communicant to the other. During worship we will encourage to forgo our customary handshake greeting and suggest instead a smile, maybe with a wave, and a heartfelt, "Good morning! Peace be with you." We do remind you to be vigilant about handwashing and encourage you to use the hand sanitizer available at the entryways. Those who are experiencing flu-like symptoms please remain at home and participate in the worship services via livestreaming until are fully recovered.    

At this time, most of us have little immediate risk of exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19. Yet many of us may be worried about the disease. Fear and anxiety around this disease could lead to social stigma towards certain ethnicities, and in the broader community there may have initially been some misplaced stigma and discrimination toward the Asian population or nationalities where this disease appears to have originated. In recent weeks this has become a global disease and it is now more obvious to assist in fighting these stigmas and be the gracious, supportive Christ-followers that the Holy Spirit is growing us to be. Let us reveal our Christian love in the way we respond to the COVID-19 crisis.   

For more information on COVID-19, go to: https://www.fraserhealth.ca/health-topics-a-to-z/coronavirus/coronavirus-questions-general-public#.Xl1uHh9KiCg
http://www.bccdc.ca/about/news-stories/stories/2020/information-on-novel-coronavirus    

For further clarification please contact the office at [email protected].   

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.       
XXXX
Chair of Council   

Hi John. Church Juice, a program from Back to God Ministries, just published this helpful resource to assist churches in dealing with coronavirus concerns in their churches and communities.

The CRCNA recently published this advice as well. 

 Here's a good resource from Church Juice: https://churchjuice.reframemedia.com/blog/resources-for-your-church-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic