Dear Relevant family,
With the increased concern and spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), I want to share a couple of things to ease your minds. Please note, this is not to frighten, scare or alarm anyone, but simply an act of due diligence and a sense of responsibility to the people we serve in the midst of international concern.
THERE ARE CURRENTLY NO CASES IN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
First, we want to be wise by resisting the fear that seems so pervasive at this time. While fear catastrophizes and reacts, we are given resources as Christ-followers to remain calm and resist over-reaction, even as we do our due diligence about the spread of the virus.
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” – Isaiah 26:3
We believe that living in the midst of a culture of fear with a different spirit is a great opportunity for His gospel of peace to spread. One of the ways in which we combat fear is by finding the comfort and presence of Jesus in the gathering of the church as we worship, proclaim the Word, break bread and fellowship with one another. Unless you or a member of your family are ill, we urge you to ‘Keep Calm and Come to Church!’
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” – II Timothy 1:7
Second, we want to be wise at this time is by taking the necessary precautions to combat the spread of illness or virus and we wanted to inform you of the steps we are taking to make gathering together on a Sunday as safe a practice as possible. If you have kids who are a part of our Children’s Ministry, you should know that we will take every necessary precaution with the handling of food, drinks and other materials used by our Relevant Kidz staff and volunteers.
- There will be hand sanitizer available in the bathroom, at the Connection Corner and throughout The ARC and we encourage the community to use it. The greeters will also have their hands well sanitized.
- Communion trays and cups will be sanitized and will be administered by our deacons and ops team with gloves so as to avoid the passing of germs in the communion plates.
- Please be respectful of people who may not want to shake hands or hug in order to avoid unnecessary skin contact. A fist bump may be more appropriate for now.
For more information, please visit the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website at https://www.cdc.gov/
Other resources:
https://www.osac.gov/Content/Announcement/fee23fa6-8c30-44ae-985f-180e3ce9635e
https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses
http://wp.sbcounty.gov/dph/coronavirus/
Sincerely,
Pastor Chuck
