June 14th 2020,
Dear Creator Members,
We have a small Covid Response team working on the details for preparing to “open up the church”. The recommendation of this group is to continue virtual Worship and keep the Church building closed unless prior approval by Council until Phase 3.
While Pierce Co has now moved to Phase 2 we feel that the mitigations needed to reduce the risk are too great for the number that would be able to attend.
Religious and faith-based organizations are permitted to, provided all requirements in this document are met:
Phase 1 Hold outdoor services on the organization’s property (or immediately adjacent property if explicitly permitted by the local jurisdiction) with up to 100 individuals, excluding organization staff.
Phase 2 Hold indoor services at a place of worship with up to 25% capacity or 50 individuals, whichever is less, (excluding organization staff) and
Hold or provide in-home services or counseling inside a person’s residence with up to 5 total individuals (excluding organization staff).
Some of the guidelines Phase 2 requires:
- Education and member self screening for temperature and symptoms prior to attending; completing attendance logs for potential exposure tracings
- Masking at all times
- Keeping physical 6 feet distancing
- No singing; No communion
- Minimizing bathroom attendance to 2
- Establishing signage and a cleaning/decontamination procedure
We will continue to enjoy Virtual Worship with Dani’s music to enhance the experience and Pastor Amanda will be trying a virtual Communion soon. We hope to have plans for outdoor worship later in the summer. Group meetings will open up when we get the Opening protocols and Cleaning/Decontamination protocols in place. Each group will need a designee who will be trained and signed off to take responsibility for those protocols for their group.
Yours in Christ,
Janice Pendergast,
Council Communications Manager representing the Creator Covid Response Team