The Northern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventist is committed to sharing current information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease and how this impacts our churches and schools. We value the health and safety of our employees, church members, and students.
The Northern California Conference administrators have, as of March 16, 2020, made the following determinations:
- The Northern California Conference office and the NCC Adventist Book Center are open during their regularly scheduled hours. We are enacting heightened sanitary protocols for the building.
- Please conduct business with our NCC office staff via telephone or email, and avoid coming into the office unless absolutely necessary. Please do not come to the office or the ABC if you are sick.
- You can find department telephone numbers at nccsda.com/contact-us. Email info@nccsda.com, and your email will be directed to the proper department or person.
- For the foreseeable future, all meetings scheduled for the office will be conducted via phone or online. If you have a meeting scheduled, the organizer will notify you of the new plan.
- We will keep you informed about any changes to our office and ABC hours and policies.
The goal of these temporary changes is to provide a buffer of protection to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in our communities. Care should always be taken to follow the simple health care guidelines provided by the CDC and medical experts. These include:
- Wash your hands carefully with soap and water; use sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol when washing hands is not possible.
- Cover your mouth and nose while coughing and sneezing. If you don’t have tissue available, then utilize your arm or sleeve to cover your mouth and nose.
- Maintain a safe distance from others—no less than six feet; avoid shaking hands, giving hugs, etc.
- Sanitize your living and work areas daily.
- Stay at home if you are sick.
- Seek medical treatment if you have any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19.
Even in these uncertain times, we urge all our members to stay connected with family, friends, and church members through phone calls, texts, emails, social media, etc. We can encourage and support one another through these avenues of communication—and through prayer. We urge each member to continue to support the mission of the Church.
Some of our members may consider these guidelines extreme, but we take cautious guidance from Ellen White: “God will not work a miracle to keep those from sickness who have no care for themselves, but are continually violating the laws of health and make no efforts to prevent disease. When we do all we can on our part to have health, then may we expect that the blessed results will follow, and we can ask God in faith to bless our efforts for the preservation of health” (
Counsels on Health
, p. 59).
