Dear Friends in Christ:

Yesterday federal health officials advised hospitals, schools, churches and other public facilities to begin making preparations for the anticipated spread of the coronavirus in the United States. Your pastors and staff spent several hours making plans, and I briefed the Session last night on our progress.

Today I want to share that information with you. You will soon see evidence of increased health-protection measures throughout the church. Later in this email, you will find details regarding these precautions.

First, though, I want to encourage you to approach this public health concern as we are doing here at Fifth Avenue: by educating yourself, keeping up with the latest developments, and being extra careful about hygiene and cleanliness.

Education & Prevention

As with any developing story, there is a lot of misinformation floating around. This new virus is not merely “the common cold.” But it’s not the plague, either. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has an extensive site, Coronavirus Disease 2019, that explains what this virus is, how it spreads and how you can protect yourself. It also provides the latest updates and offers expert advice for travelers, public facilities and healthcare professionals.

The New York City Health Department’s Coronavirus site also has useful information, including local resources and current statistics, such as how many cases of coronavirus infection have been reported in the city so far (answer: zero).

I also found this article, You’re Likely to Get the Coronavirus, published yesterday by The Atlantic, both informative and reassuring. It makes clear why this virus is so difficult to contain, but also emphasizes that most cases are not life-threatening. As Dr. Marc Lipsitch, a Harvard epidemiologist, says, “It’s likely that many will have mild disease, or may be asymptomatic.”

This New York Times series is another good repository of current reporting and practical advice, including a recent piece on what parents need to know. The article “How to Prepare for the Coronavirus” lays out many of the basic precautions all of us can take to protect ourselves (and others) from this new virus. They are, in effect, the same precautions the CDC recommends every year during flu season:

Wash your hands. Frequently.

Keep your hands off your face, particularly your mouth, nose and eyes.

Get a flu shot.

Disinfect the surfaces in your home and workplace.

Don’t go to work (or school, or church) if you are feeling sick.

What the Church Is Doing

Like the flu, the coronavirus is thought to spread mainly from close, person-to-person contact, and perhaps from contact with infected surfaces or objects. We are taking stock of all the ways these interactions happen at church, assessing our vulnerabilities, giving particular consideration to our most vulnerable people (such as our elderly and homebound members and our shelter guests), and implementing measures that we hope will keep us all safe.

This is what I can report so far:

In worship, we have decided, with the approval of the Session, to suspend communion while we train our officers on the most hygienically-sound way to administer the sacrament. The procedure we follow in Kirkland Chapel – where the pastors (after disinfecting their hands) drop the bread into your palm and juice is passed in individual cups – is thought to be the safest way to share the Lord’s Supper. We are working on how best to adapt this approach to the Sanctuary. Bear with us. No communion will be served this Sunday, but we will resume with a new format very soon.

The Passing of the Peace is another time during worship when we are given to close contact with one another. Without outlawing hugs and handshakes, we support any of you who prefer to keep a safer distance. Pressing your palms together, holding your hand over your heart, even giving a friendly nod as you greet one another are all perfectly acceptable. We hope you will take no offense if our pastors, Deacons and greeters welcome you in this way as well.

Our pastors already keep sanitizer on hand as we preside during worship and meet you at the door. We are making hand sanitizer available throughout the Sanctuary and Church House. Feel free to use it, or slip into the restroom to wash your hands as often as you like.

At Meet+Greet, in the Christian Education Center and any other place where we offer food, we will either provide individually wrapped portions, or there will be a server on hand to offer the food to you. This will protect us all from too many hands on the cookies!

We will work with Rodrigo Rosas and his team, and with our Meals on Heels volunteers, to ensure that all aspects of food preparation and distribution are handled in the safest-possible manner. 

I have directed our building staff to double-up on our cleaning protocols, particularly in high-traffic visitor areas such as the 55th Street lobby, the shelter and the CEC (not to mention the Sanctuary and Chapel). We will do a daily cleaning of the shelter, making sure that the tables, chairs and lockers are wiped down with soap, bleach and hot water, and that mattresses are cleaned between guest stays.

We are communicating with our entire staff about the how and why of being vigilant about cleanliness and hygiene at this time. We will communicate this information with our tenants, outside rentals and other visitors as well. Watch for future emails with information specific to Family Ministries, Outreach and Congregational Care.

Closing Thoughts

Please be assured that we are monitoring this public health emergency very closely. We are in consultation with doctors in the congregation and with sister congregations about the most effective steps we should be taking as a church.

If the situation worsens, public health officials may recommend that we take even stricter measures. We are not there yet. But should that day arrive, we will be prepared.

Meanwhile, we will continue to worship together on Sunday. We will continue to provide Meals on Heels to our neighbors, housing for our shelter guests, social services to our neighbors on the streets, and visits to our homebound members. In as safe and careful way as we can, we will continue to do Christ’s ministry here at Fifth and 55th.

If you need assistance, particularly if you feel ill and will not be coming to worship, let us know. Your pastors are always here to help.

Please do all you can to maintain your health and that of your family, friends, colleagues and fellow members of this faith community. Be in touch with me or any of the clergy if you have questions, concerns or helpful suggestions. And know that, with God’s abiding grace, all will be well.

Grace and peace to you this day.

Scott