Good Afternoon CCS Families,
I hope you and your family are well and that you are enjoying a great start to the new school year! Thankfully, we had a great week of faculty in-service and first week with students on campus.
As many of you are aware, over the past week local city and county authorities have made and revised rule changes and proclamations requiring residents to wear face coverings indoors in public places. Based on the wording in the official documents, Carmel Baptist Church’s leadership sought legal counsel to determine whether these actions apply to the church and any or all of its ministries. In case you are not aware, CCS is a ministry of Carmel Baptist Church, not a separate organization, and as a ministry of the church, we make decisions that are in coordination with the other ministries of the church.
It has been determined that the most recent revision of the proclamation made by the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners and an additional one from the Town of Matthews apply to Carmel Baptist Church and it’s ministries. This means that effective Thursday, August 26, CCS will require it’s faculty, staff, students and guests to wear face coverings while indoors on our campus while this order is in place. Below are the details of the policy change and how it will be applied in our setting.
Regarding government orders and laws, the church’s leadership is committed to obeying the law regarding pandemic-related emergency health orders. Church leadership does not consider face covering requirements an issue for civil disobedience. In our view, governing authorities are not asking us to do anything or refrain from doing anything contrary to God's word.
As we have stated previously, CCS desires to monitor and manage our own health protocols and procedures based on our school’s health environment and local community metrics, adjusting campus protocols as we discern what is best based on our local environment. Face covering decisions are one among many decisions and actions we have taken to keep our students, faculty and staff as healthy as possible. We are firmly committed to safeguarding the wellness of our entire CCS family. The team continually and prayerfully evaluates CCS’s plans and protocols while responding thoughtfully and appropriately to the latest COVID-19 information.
Given the required adoption of this new protocol, our teams will create face covering “breaks” throughout the day for students in ALL divisions. We know change is hard, but we are here to help your students adjust to this new requirement and will support and encourage them throughout the process.
CCS’s mission to disciple students is best delivered on-campus and in-person, and we are committed to ensure in-person instruction as much as possible for as many as possible. Please be diligent with me to guard your family’s health and risk of exposure in your personal lives, and be sure to come to campus only when healthy.
FLEXIBILITY continues to be key this year! Thank you for your continued support, patience and encouragement. We have much to be grateful for and with the Lord’s help, we are indeed “more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37) .
In partnership,
