Church Family,
 Our Ministry Team has continued to monitor the pandemic that is sweeping the world, our nation, and state. We take stewarding the health of our church community seriously and will continue to meet each week to monitor the progression of this pandemic and what protocols we need to take. While we desire to be a non-anxious presence at this time, we also want to be strategic and pro-active.
The “CDC is responding to an outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus that was first detected in China and which has now been detected in more than 100 locations internationally, including in the United States. The virus has been named “SARS-CoV-2” and the disease it causes has been named “coronavirus disease 2019” (abbreviated “COVID-19”)….On March 11, 2020 WHO characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic.”[1] This disease, which is said to be ten times more lethal than the regular flu[2], is causing individuals, businesses, churches, and residential communities to find a new normal. From a place of care, we have been in touch with retirement communities, pandemic resources, and many others.
In response to the dangers and concerns of COVID-19, the Ministry Team has adopted the following protocols that will take place beginning Sunday, March 15, 2020.
- We will NOT pass an offering plate, but rather have donation boxes available.
- All communion will be sealed and pre-packaged.
- For two weeks, we will host NO events or extra gatherings after this Sunday.
- Visitation will only take place based on emergency situations.
- All greeters and church members are asked to utilize elbow bumps over handshakes.
- Travelers from infected areas or other countries should self-quarantine for 14-days.
- Clorox and Lysol-based cleaners will be used on light switches, door handles, and bathrooms.
- Please bring your own coffee/snacks to church. The Living Room breakfast is canceled this week.
- We will not offer nursey for the next two weeks.
If a case of COVID-19 would show up in our neighborhood, the Hempfield/Manheim Schools, church, or in a local residential community, we will cancel that Sunday. Continue to cover your coughs, wash your hands, utilize hand sanitizer stations, and if you or your kids are feeling unwell, please stay home.
Please continue to pray for God’s protection and good health for our church community and neighborhoods. It is important to note that many church fathers saw epidemics as opportunities for the church. For many, “Christianity offered a much more satisfactory account of why these terrible times had fallen upon humanity, and it projected a hopeful, even enthusiastic, portrait of the future.”[3] At other times, the “Christian values of love and charity [that] had, from the beginning, been translated into norms of social service and community solidarity,”[4] meant that “when disasters struck, the Christians were better able to cope and this resulted in substantially higher rates of survival.”[5] Other times, our hospitality and philanthropy in times of testing caused concern for the empire. Emperor Julian “decided to launch an offensive against them by mobilizing his officials and the pagan priesthood to out-love the Christians.”[6] Find ways to love your neighbors and each other at this time!
Blessings, Ministry Team
[3] Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity, harpercollins pbk. ed. (San Francisco, Calif.: HarperSanFrancisco, 1997), 82.
[4] Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity, harpercollins pbk. ed. (San Francisco, Calif.: HarperSanFrancisco, 1997), 82.
[5] Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity, harpercollins pbk. ed. (San Francisco, Calif.: HarperSanFrancisco, 1997), 82.
[6] Michael Frost, Surprise the World: The Five Habits of Highly Missional People (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, a NavPressInc., 2016), 9.
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