WORSHIP AT THE BUILDING COVID-19 UPDATE
Updated May 14, 2021
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
 
Following the CDC announcement on Thursday, May 13, 2021 the Southside Leadership Team is making the following adjustment to our Covid-19 guidance and worship service attendance at the church building.
 
1. After two weeks of receiving your second dose of the vaccine, or single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, you are fully vaccinated! You can attend worship service in the physical building without wearing a mask or physical social distancing both indoors and outdoors.
 
2. If you have NOT been fully vaccinated, we will recommend that you continue to wear your mask(s) while attending services and any social gathering(s) at the church building.
 
3. If you are immune-compromised or have any other conditions that make you vulnerable, please, contact your personal physician(s) as to whether or not to desist from mask use at this juncture in the pandemic.
 
4. Hand sanitizing, hand washing and similar measures will continue to be adhered to.
 
5. We are encouraging all our members who are not fully vaccinated and in need of a vaccine to do so in order to make you and everyone around us safer.
 
We will make more detailed information available to you around June 15th, and will also keep up with any additional safety guidance by our governor, county and local government agencies as they’re made available. We thank you for your cooperation during the past year and always.
 
God Bless You All – Southside leadership Team
 
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RETURN TO BUILDING PLAN
Updated July 24, 2020

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We give all the glory, praise and honor to God for His mercy and grace towards us. We are still deep in this COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic but dependent on God, faith in Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit that enables us to endure.  During the past few months, we have followed the guidance of the CDC and State and local authorities concerning our reentry into our church building for worship.  The Southside Leadership team is projecting a re-opening of our physical building Sunday, August 16, 2020. Thank you for your patience, long suffering and support. The current guidelines have been set for churches to be at 25% of seating capacity that will limit us to 70 attendees based on 25% of 400 (100) adjusted to maintain social distancing of 6ft.  If your temperature is above 100, if you are sick or have some preexisting medical/health condition that would put you and others in harm’s way – stay at home!  The following are the identified procedures and requirements:

  1. Survey: There will be a COVID-19 survey to complete each week before entry into building.
  2. Attendance Log: An attendance log will be maintained for the purpose of contact tracing.
  3. Building Entry: Entrance to the building will be through the West main entrance only.
  4. Temperature Check: All attendees will have their temperature checked upon entering the building. Those with temperatures of 100° or higher will not be allowed into the building.
  5. Masks: Masks must be worn by everyone and kept on during the entire worship service. The only exception is during communion. During communion, remove mask completely and not just drop to your neck or chin to avoid contamination of your mask. Masks must remain on during singing as well.
  6. Seating: Due to social distancing of 6ft and limited seating (70) the ushers will walk you to your seats.
  7. Social Distancing: 6ft distance between attendees shall be maintained at all times.
  8. Cleanliness: Hand washing and sanitizing are essential while in the building. Do not touch any surface unless necessary.  Especially, doorknobs, opening and closing doors, etc.
  9. Prefilled Communion: Communion cup will be passed out upon entering the auditorium.
  10. Song Books, Bulletins and Bibles: No bibles or song books will be in the pews. Please bring your own bible. Bulletins will not be printed (except by special request). Continue to view bulletin online.
  11. Different aspects of worship: Those working in different parts of worship shall wear mask and gloves.
  12. Handling Microphones and Offering and Communion Baskets: All those using microphones or handling the offering baskets will be properly instructed.
  13. Exiting the Auditorium and Building: In order to maintain an orderly process of exiting the auditorium and building, attendees will be dismissed by section/row. Please be patient. Everyone shall exit at the south end main doors and no gathering in the foyer after worship.
  14. Midweek Classes: Classes will continue via Zoom/GoToMeeting. Call the office for login information.
  15. Offering: Please continue to give online or mail your check, money order (cash as a last resort) to the church, attention Treasurer. Offering envelops will be distributed to those who worship in person.
  16. Online Worship: Our online worship will continue until further notice for those unable to attend.
  17. Worship Service: Morning worship service at 10:30am will be the only worship service at the building. Please try to arrive at 10:15am so we can get you checked in and seated.

 

If you have questions or concerns, please, contact any of the Elders. We love you all.

Olabamiji Idowu, Kenneth McCoy, Herman Snoddy

The Leadership Team

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POST COVID-19 PANDEMIC RE-ENTRY
Updated May 27, 2020

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The Leadership team of the Southside Congregation would like to thank you for your steadfastness in your faith and cooperation during our absence from the house of worship. Following the directive of our state governor, Jay Inslee, we have been streaming all our worship services, midweek classes and important meetings via Zoom, Go-To-Meeting and other means of social media and technology. As restrictions on Worship Services are being lifted in gradual phases, we will continue to keep a close watch on the different phases, guidelines and instructions from the governor’s office and local governing bodies where applicable for re-entry into our physical place of worship.

Fellow Christians, let us continue to remember that God has always been in our plans in all that we do (Jeremiah 29:11). We are aware of your sufferings and afflictions and we are praying for each one of you continually for spiritual and physical healing. Due to lack of containment of the Coronavirus, the number of those infected and deaths in this state and the nation, we are not certain of the exact date when we will be able to re-enter the building.  When we have a clear date from the governor we will provide a re-entry plan. 

List of certain items necessary to be completed for our return to the building:

  1. Removal, dust off, sanitize and store song books, hymnals, supplemental song pamphlets and bibles from the pews.
  2. Deep cleaning, sanitizing, disinfecting pews, chairs, restrooms, classrooms, door knobs, panic hardware, elevator, baptismal pool, rails, light switches, carpets and the entire building.
  3. Installation of two sanitizer dispensers, one at the west entrance and the other one at the south entrance.
  4. Work is in progress on asphalt patch work and striping of our parking lot. We are looking forward to its completion.

 

Activities and events that will be temporarily suspended in 2020:

  1. Children Bible Hour, (CBH)
  2. Church Picnic
  3. Printing of church bulletins (Except if personal requests are made for copies)
  4. Quarterly Congregational Meetings
  5. Sunday Bible Classes
  6. Vacation Bible School (VBS)
  7. Zone Meetings
 
Stay strong in the faith and be prayerful continually.

In Christian Love,

The Leadership Team

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WORSHIP SERVICE and COVID-19
Updated April 3, 2020

As the situation with COVID19 (Coronavirus) continues to develop and evolve we are prayerfully considering the next steps for the congregation. At this time the leadership team have decided to have 10:30am Worship Service – Live Streamed – Sunday Mornings Only. All other worship services, classes and events will be canceled until further notice.  As additional directives are made available, we will keep you informed.

May 4th has been designated as the new deadline for the Stay at Home order for Washington State. Below are the guidelines for the congregation for worshiping online:

  1. HOW DO I VIEW THE LIVE STREAM
    1. We encourage our members to view the live stream from our website at scocseattle.org and click on the Facebook icon at bottom of the page. If you already follow us on Facebook, you can login to our page from there @ SouthsideSeattleChurchofChrist. You do not need a Facebook account to view the livestream, just an internet connection to get to our website.
    2. Members can follow the worship service from home on your computer/laptop, mobile device, or smart tv. 
    3. All five acts of the worship service will be streamed live, so all members can participate together.
       
  1. HOW DO I GET COMMUNION?
    1. Pre-filled communion cups are no longer available for pickup at the building.
    2. You can personally order on-line from a church supply company, Amazon or purchase grape juice and unleavened (Matzah) bread from local stores.

  2. WHAT IF I HAVE A PRAYER REQUEST?
    1. You can submit a prayer request(s) online at scocseattle.org/prayer-request
    2. We encourage all members to pray fervently among yourselves individually, in family groups and at Noontime every day. Pray fervently that this crisis will pass without harm or danger to any of God’s children.

  3. HOW DO I GIVE AS I PROSPER?
    1. All members are encouraged to give online at: https://www.scocseattle.org/online-giving/. Click link above, click general offering, set up your profile or give as a guest.
    2. You can also mail your offering via check or money order (do not mail cash). Put attention “Treasurer” on the envelope.

We thank you for your cooperation as we go through this together. God Bless!

Southside Leadership Team