TCCOG7 Fellowship Reopening Letter 2020

Treasure Coast Church of God 7th Day Fellowship

4051 SW Savona Blvd.

Port St. Lucie, Fl 34953

772-301-1127

Re: Treasure Coast Church of God 7th Day Fellowship reopening letter

May 7, 2020

Federal and state leaders have started to announce their plans to begin reopening parts of the economy. These announcements and the media attention that has followed are naturally driving questions and internal speculation around when Treasure Coast COG7th Day will return to our church building.

The Board wanted to give you some insight into the work that we are doing on this very question. While there is still a lot more work ongoing, including evaluating changes to the way we will operate, we do want to give some insight into our thinking around the ‘how will we return.’

First and foremost, please know that while our plans will utilize federal and state guidelines as a starting point, the health and safety of our members are of paramount importance. We’ve been collaborating weekly and analyzing other churches to understand their reintegration plans in conjunction with federal and state guidance. This information will enable us to make the best choices for our members and visitors.

The plan we have been developing is built around a theme of ‘Return to a New Normal’ rather than a return to church. As we know, we have continued virtual fellowship over these last several weeks.

Just as the economy is likely to reopen in stages, we too intend to take a phased, measured approach to returning to corporate worship. We will not be returning to the church for the sake of returning alone, but only when returning is safe.

Here’s a preliminary look to help everyone get a better sense of what the first phase of ‘Return to a New Normal’ might look like:

• Our social distancing advice will continue to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. The Board is looking at every potential church attendee’s interaction point, from individual seating to shared facilities such as bathrooms, meeting rooms, classrooms, and office. This is to ensure safe social distancing can be practiced.
• Establish occupant density targets based on social distancing guidelines.
• New facility entry and exit procedures will be in place to limit the amount of face-to-face interactions when accessing the building.
• Enhanced sanitation measures to increase the cadence of our cleaning protocols and widen the availability of hand sanitizers throughout the church. Also, there will be frequent cleaning of our church common areas and high touchpoints, such as door handles, etc.
• Increased accountability will be needed from everyone including continued safe social distancing, good hygiene, and wearing a mask (when and where appropriate) in consideration of our fellow members.
  
  

Yours in His Service,

Terry William

Chairman

Lawrence A Haynes

Pastor