Dear Church Family,

Our staff here at Beachcities Community Church has been closely monitoring the recent news and spread of COVID-19 (known as the coronavirus).  While we don’t want to be alarmist; we also don’t want to stick our heads in the sand and pretend like there isn’t a serious medical emergency unfolding.

At the current moment, there is a statistically small number of documented cases of coronavirus in Orange County. However, many credible experts suggest there are many more undetected cases that are likely to result in an increase of outbreaks in the coming weeks and months.

Based on these realities we’re going to make the following adjustments in our procedures here at Beachcities:

• Based on recommendations from both the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and OCHCA, we will continue with our already existing cleaning and sanitizing practices while also increasing the frequency of disinfection in high-touch and high-traffic areas.

• In keeping with already existing practices, all volunteers will be required to wash their hands with soap and water before and after serving in any of our ministries.

• Each specific ministry within our organization will be considering possible circumstances for virus transmission within the context of their particular activities and making adjustments and modifications as needed. Two major changes you can anticipate experiencing this weekend are adjustments we’ll be making in how we handle food and beverages as well as how we collect our offering. We’d like to ask for your patience with us in the coming weeks as we do our best to implement safer health practices church-wide.

Our encouragement to our church family and community is to stay informed, remain calm, and follow basic health best practices (as outlined by the CDC).

In addition to this, we’d like to ask you to:

• Stay home if you or a member of your family are sick, especially if experiencing any of the symptoms of coronavirus (as outlined by the CDC) including fever, dry cough, or shortness of breath. We offer a full live-stream of our weekend services. Please take advantage of the option to participate in our weekend experiences online to prevent further spread of any illness or virus. You can expect that, in the coming weeks, our kids, youth, and even adult programs are going to be even more watchful and alert than normal regarding individuals displaying signs of illness in our programs. If you do choose to attend church while ill, don’t be surprised if, for the sake of all those in attendance, we ask you to return home or to pick up your child early from their classroom. 

• Follow basic hygiene practices while on the BCC campus, including washing your hands with soap and water frequently. We are going to do our best to make sure hygiene items are easy for our guests to find and make use of. Please do your best to utilize them.

• Refrain from unnecessary physical contact. At this point, the CDC has indicated a belief that the virus is spread mainly from person to person. You can expect to see a decrease in hugs, handshakes, high fives and other forms of physical contact from our volunteer teams. We’d like to ask you to do the same. 

• Consider staying home from church if you are part of the higher-risk population: older adults and people who have severe underlying chronic medical conditions like heart disease, lung disease, respiratory ailments (including asthma), cancer, or diabetes seem to be at higher risk for developing serious complications from COVID-19. You can visit the CDC website for a more detailed list of high-risk conditions. If you are part of the high-risk population, we encourage you to take extra precautions to protect yourself over the next few weeks, including staying home from church. A livestream of our services is available on the BCC website and app. 

We will continue to monitor the situation closely as it unfolds and will continue to update you regarding additional safety measures as we receive more information and recommendations from local and federal authorities. We are also consulting with a number of medical professionals within our own congregation who are continuing to provide us with information and guidance moving forward. 

On a final note, I would like to address the pastoral issue that lies before us. It’s times like this that our faith is genuinely tested and proven. While we have to deal with the realities of living in a fallen world by taking appropriate precautions as mentioned above, it is imperative that we not lose sight of the spiritual realities behind all of these things. And the most important spiritual truth that comes to my mind right now is that God has not given us a spirit of fear but of love, power, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). This means that, while the circumstances are somewhat serious, we need not live in fear and anxiety; instead we get to pray knowing that if we make our requests known to God with the attitude of thanksgiving, He will guard our hearts and minds with His perfect peace.