COVID-19 Update

A Letter from Transitional Pastor Kathy Keener

Friends and Members of Madrona Grace, As your pastor, I care about your bodies, minds and spirits! We are in a special season of concern and care in the Seattle region with its exposure to the Covid-19 virus.

Desiring to balance safety from possible exposure with our emotional/spiritual need to gather as Beloved Community, your session has had two meetings this week. We have cancelled Sunday worship for March 8. The session will evaluate future programming at its regular meeting on Monday; we will continue to monitor developments.

We will keep you notified with Eblasts and will post plans on the Madrona Grace Presbyterian Church Facebook page and the church webpage as we are able. 

I attended Tuesday’s meeting of religious leaders with a King County Health Department representative, learning about cleaning practices to keep our shared spaces safe and best practices for communion. We considered needs of shelters, preschools, worship, and pastoral care.

  • For Madrona Grace sanitation, all users of the church building are now asked to spray a bleach solution on tabletops, pew backs, door knobs and light switches before leaving the church. 

  • Hand sanitizer and tissues are available throughout the building for personal use and soap dispensers are full.

For your mental health, I encourage you to limit exposure to the overwhelming media feed.  Please check the reliability of gossip youhear, instead of repeating it. Check CDC, Washington State Department of Health, and Public Health -Seattle and King County for the latest guidance. 

If you are sick, please stay home. If you have ANY of the following symptoms—even minor ones—you should stay home to help protect the vulnerable among us. These include: runny nose, sneezing, coughing, sore throat, muscle aches/flu-like symptoms, shortness of breath, fever, abdominal pain or diarrhea.  

Out of an abundance of caution, we also ask those of you who may be experiencing the following additional symptoms to refrain from participating and stay at home: unexplained tiredness/fatigue, headache, general malaise, gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. The symptoms associated with COVID-19 can be very mild and not typical for a respiratory illness.  We recommend that members, staff, and guests be fever-free, without the use of fever-reducing medication, for 24 hours before returning to Madrona Grace.

If you are quarantined or isolated and need assistance (delivery of tissue, Tylenol or food), please contact me at through the church office. We will do our best to care for one another!

If you are vulnerable, please stay home. People age 60 and over and those with chronic illness or poorer immune functions (e.g. from chemotherapy, radiation treatment, or dialysis, pregnancy) are recommended to avoid group situations, as infection with COVID-19 may have more serious effects. 

Basic hygiene is KEY to protect yourself and others!

Practicing hygiene is the most proactive thing we can do individually to protect ourselves and others in our community. Please remember to do the following at home and when at church:

  • Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20-seconds. (hum Amazing Grace orHappy Birthday!)

  • Use hand sanitizer (we have several dispensers throughout the church building).

  • Avoid touching your face with your hands: your eyes, nose, mouth with unwashed hands.

  • Avoid direct contact with people who are sick. Consider video calls, phone calls, or emails to stay connected. This is a good time to use your phone to call and chat with a vulnerable friend, instead of dropping by for a visit.

  • Cover your mouth/nose with a tissue or sleeve when coughing or sneezing.

  • Greet one another with an elbow bump, broad smile, and a friendly HELLO! 

SPIRITUAL PRACTICES FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

Please join me in prayer:

Lord, in your mercy you healed those suffering in body, mind or spirit. We cry out to you now on behalf of those infected by the coronavirus. Heal the sick, and bind up the broken-hearted who grieve those felled by this illness.

As both infection and fear spread, we ask for courage and protection for healthcare workers risking their own well-being for the sake of others. We pray for researchers seeking to better understand and control this virus. We pray wisdom for government officials and those indecision-making positions. May they rightly discern what needs to be done to treat those already infected and prevent others from falling sick.

We know there are those in quarantine, afraid they might be exposed to illness, wondering when they will return totheir normal lives, anxious about what might happen next. Comfort them withy our peace that passes understanding and grant them patience during this liminal and frightening season.

Lord of all, we are intimately connected to one another no matter where we reside on the earth, and so we plead for healing, good healthcare, relief and wholeness for our siblings throughout the world and especially in places where this virus has made its appearance. May our collective care, effort, resources and love bring an end to Covid-19.

Bless our church and help us to care foreach other and our neighbors. Amen.

InChrist,

Kathy

HEALTH REMINDERS

Guidance from health agencies continues to follow standard best practices to mitigate the spread of colds, flu, and other contagious viruses. As Philippians 2:4 reminds us, we are called to “not only look out for our own interests but the interests of others.”These best practices and recommendations are a great way to follow Jesus and care for our neighbors:

  • Stay home when you are sick. We recommend that members, staff, and guests must be fever-free, without the use of fever-reducing medication, for 24hours before returning to the Church.

  • Wash your hands frequently for 10–20 seconds with lathering soap.Encourage others to do the same.

  • Avoid touching eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

  • Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue and then throw it away.Cough into your bent elbow only if you don't have a tissue.

  • When greeting friends use a wave or an elbow bump instead of a handshake.

  • If by chance you have a confirmed case of COVID-19, please contact us immediately at Office@madronagrace.org.

NewsPhil Birch