| March 11th, 2020 Dear SCAC Family, Blessings to each of you as you navigate the new Seattle normal. If you’re keeping up with the latest King County Public Health updates you know the number of new COVID-19 cases increased significantly on Tuesday. Also, Seattle Public Schools had their first confirmed COVID-19 case at nearby Aki Kurose Middle School and this afternoon announced closings of ALL schools for the next two weeks. Let’s pray for many of these families who don’t have access to childcare. As state officials urge compliance with their “social distancing” guidelines, SCAC is doing our part by conducting online-only worship services for the remainder of March. We need to thank Eton and our amazing EM/CM audio-video teams for setting up the live stream for this Sunday. In just a few days we transitioned from NO-streaming to HD-streaming. None of this would be possible without their above and beyond service for which we are all incredibly grateful. With this comes a host of questions about what ministry looks like in the near future, so please read through the following topics carefully. If you have any questions or concerns please email scac@scacseattle.org and one of your SCAC staff will reply. MARCH: CAMPUS CLOSED SCAC is canceling all regularly scheduled fellowship (Youth, College, Young Couples, Seniors, etc.) meetings that meet on the SCAC campus for the month of March. During this time SCAC staff has scheduled regular deep cleaning of the SCAC campus which includes all children’s toys and play areas. We are encouraging all staff to work from home while remaining available for meetings in person, virtual, email or phone. Staff should expect to return to normal campus working hours beginning March 30th. ONLINE-ONLY SERVICES We are following King County Public Health guidelines and the general lead of schools, churches, large businesses, and govt. offices that have directed their employees and students to work/stay at home and avoid all large gatherings (10+ people) through the end of March. Therefore SCAC will hold online-only services for March. English Stream 10am Cantonese Stream 11:30am Mandarin Stream 11:30am To livestream our services simply use the links provided or visit the SCAC webpage and click on the live stream buttons. Contingent upon King County Public Health guidelines, our hope is to resume public worship services on April 5th. CHILDREN’S MINISTRY Children’s ministry will be going “online” this week! Every Thursday parents will receive an email from Children’s Ministry with links to the current weeks’ Bible story, worship videos, a brief message from Pastor Steve and other goodies. There will also be a link for kids who are participating in the SCAC Adventure Club to input their numbers for reading and praying. By sending parents our online materials each Thursday, each family has the flexibility to study the Bible and worship together on their schedule. VIRTUAL MEETINGS SCAC has purchased a Zoom account for on-line meetings. This service is available to all members who want to conduct a virtual meeting of THREE or more people. For one-on-one virtual meetings please use a personal free account (Zoom, FB, Google hangout, Skype, Facetime). To schedule a group meeting (3+) contact Polly (pollywong@scacseattle.org) with the date, time and duration. She will schedule the meeting and confirm by sending you the link. Note that some limitations may occur because our account is unable to schedule simultaneous meetings. COMMUNITY GROUPS We encourage all English Ministry community groups to continue in-person gatherings as long as your group is under ten people. As a reminder, those who are most vulnerable are expecting moms and individuals over 60 with chronic health conditions. If you are sick or display symptoms of illness no matter how mild, you should postpone attending your CG until your symptoms have cleared. CG’s that want to meet virtually can contact Polly to set up a Zoom meeting. MISSIONS All of our overseas trips have been impacted this year. X.M. March & July teams are canceled. Orphan-Korea trip canceled. X.M. Sept. 4-13 and W. China Sept. 1-10 are on the bubble and not likely. China is trying to stop the disease from being repatriated by travelers. Some municipalities now require travelers to undergo a 14-day home quarantine. TRANSPARENCY As of 3/11 there are no confirmed cases of SCAC members contracting the virus. If any SCAC member is known to be infected with COVID-19, then the church body will be notified (privacy for the individual) and appropriate action taken: (1) Have the individual follow the King County Public Health guidelines. (2) Find out what other SCAC individuals or groups the individual may have been in contact. (3) SCAC will contact those persons and refer them to the KC Public Health guidelines for those who may have been exposed. If you believe you were exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19 contact the King County novel coronavirus call center: 206-477-3977. (4) We will pray and follow-up with them. COMMUNICATION During this season we are erring on the side of overcommunicating. We will continue to post COVID-19 updates on the SCAC webpage (English | Chinese) and newsletter. Daily, we check the latest news from King County Public Health. We are also in regular contact with other area churches to encourage their pastors and evaluate the wisdom of reopening public services given the latest guidelines. MINISTRY As followers of Jesus, we are called to be His witnesses in all of the ways we hold hope, keep the faith, trust God, love our neighbors and enemies, and especially love the poor and the sick. We refuse to cave to fear, remembering always how “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18) and death has no sting (1 Cor. 15:55). During this time it’s important to be centered in Jesus, taking every opportunity to display compassion for others by visiting them virtually or leaving a gift of fresh groceries for the elderly or expectant moms at their doorstep. By intentionally setting aside time to minister to others, we cut against the grain of a self-preserving culture and our own selfish ambition to live out our devotion to God and love for one another. The point is that any difficulty is not indicative of an absent God, but rather an opportunity for God and His church to display His goodness and glory. Jesus himself demonstrated this on the cross for us. Ask God to show you how to love your neighbor well and He will. Blessings, P Roy & Elder Board Relevant links Latest King County Public Health Update https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/news/2020/March/10-covid-case-updates.aspx General King County Public Health COVID-19 Guidelines https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/communicable-diseases/dis What if you have COVID-19? https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/1600/coronavirus/COVIDcasepositive.pdf What if you’ve been exposed to someone with COVID-19? https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/1600/coronavirus/COVIDexposed.pdf SCAC English website – english.scacseattle.org SCAC Chinese website – Chinese.scacseattle.org English Stream – https://english.scacseattle.org/watch-now/ Cantonese Stream – https://chinese.scacseattle.org/event/cantonese-online-worship/ Mandarin Stream – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bdH3o_agq8 |
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March 6th, 2020 | 12 am
Dear SCAC Family,
Much has changed in the last 18 hours since my last COVID-19 update. The number of confirmed cases in King County almost doubled and another person passed away from the infection.
In order to help reduce the possible spread of the virus, SCAC will follow the King County Public Health recommendation: “If you can feasibly avoid bringing large groups of people together, consider postponing events and gatherings.”
Therefore, SCAC is CANCELING all worship services and gatherings this weekend (3/8).
We will begin STREAMING online services the following Sunday, March 15th.
Once we have set up streaming services, we will email you the link and we invite you, your friends and your neighbors to worship with us online. Online services will be offered in English at 10 am, Cantonese at 11:30 am and Mandarin at 11:30 am.
We place a high value on gathering together, having Spirit-filled conversations and praying for one another in person. We will continually assess the wisdom of physically meeting together guided by information from the WA State Department of Health and King County Public Health. We will continue to keep you updated through the SCAC website – www.scacseattle.org – Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Moving forward let us continue washing OUR hands and washing OTHERS’ feet by caring for our friends and neighbors who may be more vulnerable to the virus. Let’s together pray for our region and for God’s healing and blessings.
In Christ,
SCAC Elder Board