March 13, 2020

Church family, 
This is a follow up to my previous email (see below). We recently had a chance to meet via conference call with medical professionals within our local church and community. I have also been observant of our local government and had a chance to hear from Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. He was kind enough to host a conference call for local pastors to discuss expectations for Sunday services. We were able to hear him thoroughly and asked questions. The summary of feedback from medical professionals, local government officials and our church leadership team can be summarized with these points: Be Informed; Be Responsible; Be Fearless. 
 
Be Informed
The World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and local health officials are the trusted sources for the most accurate information, as well as updates on the status of vaccines and treatments (which are in development). 
These are the Center for Disease Control’s recommendations:

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Stay home when you are sick. Let me say that again, STAY HOME!
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
• Follow CDC’s recommendations for using a facemask:
• CDC does not recommend that people wear a facemask to protect themselves from respiratory diseases, including COVID-19.
• Facemasks should be used by people who show symptoms of COVID-19 to help prevent the spread of the disease to others. The use of facemasks is also crucial for health workers and people who are taking care of someone in close settings (at home or in a health care facility).
• Infection Control: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/hcp/infection-control.html
• Home Guidance:https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/guidance-home-care.html
• Specific groups are at risk and should consider not gathering this Sunday. For more information visit: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-n8cov/specific-groups/high-risk-complications.html

 
Be Responsible
Mayor Turner repeatedly reminded us that the city (Houston and Greater Houston) is open for business. People are still going to work, engaging in the community, shopping, etc. He even mentioned that he will be at his church this Sunday. We simply need to be responsible. He stated that they would not hesitate to “shut down the city” if they felt that would be needed to contain the virus. As an example, he also mentioned that the primary reason show shutting down the rodeo was because they knew with certainty that a food vendor had the virus and the responsible thing to do, would be to limit the risk of those who came in contact with that vendor. To our knowledge, no one in our local church has the virus. In fact, confirmed by Brazoria County as of this morning (03/13/2020) there are no cases of COVID-19 in Pearland, and a few cases in surrounding areas. If we find out something different, we may adjust how we handle our time together on Sundays. 
 

Starting this Sunday, we will go live! Since the 10:00 am service is the largest service, we will go live at 10 am to help reduce the Sunday morning crowd. You will be able to view the entire adult worship service online. In addition to that, our Kid’s Ministry lesson is available below. Our Student Ministry will go live via Google Hangout.  
 

 
We will have worship services at 8:30, 10:00 and 11:30 am. Please note the following:

• We will have “Fist Bump Sundays” as an alternative to shaking hands or giving high fives when greeting one another for the next few weeks. 
• Hand sanitizer dispensers are available at each entry and throughout the building.
• Harvest Kids will continue to sanitize all toys, chairs, children and youth worship spaces and other tools throughout the day and between services. 
• Harvest Kids will work to create extra space between children and watch for children who may be sick.
• We currently employ City Wide Janitorial services to thoroughly clean and sanitize our space weekly. This is in addition to what our team does to contribute to the cleanliness of our facilities. Going forward, we will increase the use of City Wide to three days weekly for additional cleaning to ensure optimal health conditions.

  
Be Fearless
We hope that you are informed and responsible. Coronavirus is a serious matter and you are not less “spiritual” because you are using wisdom, medicine and strategy while responding to this pandemic. All of this should be done, though, without being fearful. 2 Timothy 1:7 reminds us that God did not give us the Spirit of fear. Please do what you think necessary to protect you and your family, but not as one who has no hope. Updates are available at https://harvestpoint.org/coronavirus-update/.