PROTOCOLS TO HELP US STAY HEALTHY & AVOID SPREADING THE CORONA VIRUS

March 5, 2020

With a growing number of deaths from the corona virus (COVID-19) in King County, our region is under high alert.  Experience teaches us that measures to curtail the spread of a virus are most effective when taken early.  To that end, it is crucial for us to observe guidelines that, while they may infringe upon our sense of closeness as a community for a period of time, will help us and the greater communities of which we are part avoid more drastic outcomes in the weeks and months to come. Therefore, out of an abundance of caution, the following health safety protocols are being put in place for the time being at Peace.

• We ask those who are ill or symptomatic to please remain home.
• We advise people who are at higher risk, including those who are 60 years old and above; those with underlying health conditions including include heart disease, lung disease, or diabetes; those with weakened immune systems; and those who are pregnant, to consider not attending church for a period of weeks.
• We encourage people to wash their hands upon entering the church and/or use hand sanitizer that is provided.
• We advise people to allow some distance between themselves and others when visiting or sitting in the pews.

• Our Lenten Wednesday Soup Suppers and Evening Prayer are being cancelled for the time being.
• Sunday School and Adult Ed classes are being cancelled for the time being.
• Nursery Care is being cancelled for the time being. Parents who attend worship with their children are welcome to have them in the pew or monitor them in the narthex.

• Passing the Peace: We ask people to wave, nod, or bow while exchanging the peace, and to avoid physical touch.
• Offering: Instead of passing offering plates, an offering plate will be set up on a table in the center aisle. You will be able to place your offering in the plate as you enter worship or when you come forward for Holy Communion.

• Electronic Giving: Those who, for whatever reason, are absent from worship are encouraged to consider becoming ELECTRONIC GIVERS by signing up through our Peace Website. You can follow this LINK to set up a one-time or monthly giving through TITHELY, the organization we use to facilitate automated gifts. If, for whatever reason, you are unable to attend worship or other church activities, you would have the assurance that your support of Peace’s mission will continue.

• Communion practice: Careful hygienic practices will be followed by those who prepare and serve Holy Communion. Communion will be distributed processionally using pouring chalices and individual cups. Congregants will be asked to sanitize their hands prior to coming forward and may choose, if they like, to receive communion in “one kind” (i.e. either bread only or wine/juice only), knowing that Christ is fully present in each.
• Fellowship time: For the time being, fellowship time after worship will be limited and food and beverages will not be served.

• Extra care is being given to sanitizing door handles, surfaces, and bathrooms in common spaces.
• We recognize that this protocol is likely to continue to evolve, and updated announcements will be shared with the congregation through print, email, our website, and orally each week.
• We are exploring ways that we might make our worship service available over the internet for those who cannot attend during this time.       One local alternative already in place is the live-stream service from St. Mark’s Cathedral on Sundays and Wednesday Evensong services, which can be accessed HERE. https://saintmarks.org/worship/live-stream/

Putting these precautionary measures into practice is an act of stewardship, as we seek to care for the safety of one another and our neighbors.  As people of faith, we trust that God is working among us and in the world. We pray for those whose health and livelihoods have been affected by the virus and for those frontline responders and health professionals who are doing their utmost to respond and seek solutions.