Dear Friends and Family of First Church,
March 10, 2020
As you are reading this, please join your pastors in praying for healthcare workers, medical researchers and all those who are affected by the Coronavirus – COVID-19. I want to share a few words about the virus as it relates to our programs and ministries here at First Church.
The situation surrounding the COVID-19 is fluid and updates are being provided daily by federal, state and local agencies. We are doing several things to keep our facilities clean and to prevent the spread of germs. The pastoral team, staff and lay leadership assure you we take the well-being of our congregation, staff and community seriously and we are planning in the event there is a coronavirus outbreak in our community.
Current actions to prevent the spread of illness are as follows:
- Our facilities are cleaned daily by in house custodial staff and by an outsourced service. We have provided all staff with disposal wipes and disinfectant in order to sanitize highly touched surfaces.
- We have placed hand sanitizer stations and tissue boxes in strategic locations throughout both campuses and will ensure they are always stocked every day.
- Our staff have been instructed to frequently wash their hands and to stay home if they are sick.
- When greeting one another, we encourage you to place your hand(s) on your heart or chest, smile, wave or bump elbows. We will continue to warmly greet everyone who comes through our doors.
You can help us by following the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
- Stay home if you are sick—if you experience a fever, allow for 24 hours after the fever breaks before returning to church activities.
- If your children are sick, please keep them at home and worship with us online.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
- Use hand sanitizer frequently by carrying your own or using of our hand sanitizer stations.
- If you have traveled to a high-alert area (South Korea, Iran, Italy, and Japan as of today), please refrain from attending church services and other events during the 14-day incubation period and worship with us online.
We are monitoring the situation closely and will keep you informed as decisions are made regarding events, including our Sunday worship services. The directors are currently working through plans for essential business functions and what role we will play in helping others in the event we have to implement further measures.
Rev. Trudy
