Once the local COVID-19 metrics indicate that the level of activity in our area is low enough that we can prudently resume in-person worship in the sanctuary, the church will use the following process and safety protocols.

• Services will be in the Sanctuary at 11:00AM only. The service will also be livestreamed on the church’s website and Facebook.
• Based on current health guidelines, there will be no congregational singing during the service.
• Nursery care will not be available.
• To comply with medical, state, and local guidance, seating will be limited to maintain 6 feet of social distance.
• Masks are required at all times in the building. If you do not have a mask, we will have masks available for you.
• To seat as many people as possible, we will require you to sign up in advance for the service.
• If all the seats are claimed, you may add your name to a waiting list and we will contact you if space becomes available. People on the waiting list who do not get a seat for that Sunday will be given priority for seating for the following Sunday. We will also use the waiting list to evaluate the need for additional worship services in coming weeks.

The Administrative Council has adopted the following model for evaluating local COVID-19 activity to make decisions about congregational activities at Laurel Heights.  The model was developed by the Ad Hoc Committee for COVID-19 Response and will be evaluated regularly and updated as we continue to adjust to living with COVID-19. For a link to the full document, please click here.

Ad Hoc Committee for COVID-19 Response

As our city and state begin moving into a new phase of response to COVID-19, Laurel Heights has begun the process of planning for our own return to life together as a the gathered body of Christ. The first step of that process is the formation of a working group, called together by Paul Escamilla, our senior pastor, Sue Hall, chair of the administrative council, and Katie Myers, lay leader. The members of the working group are: Paul Escamilla, Sue Hall, Steve Haney, Ashley Landers, Katie Myers, Meaghan Rohlfs, and Thomas Sanders.

The group is currently working to generate recommendations, processes, and frameworks that the church’s leadership can use as we move into the coming weeks and months. The group will also be working in collaboration with other leaders, staff, and committees as the group’s work develops. The current focus areas are: Worship, Staff, Communications, and New Opportunities for Worship and Service.

As the committee develops recommendations, they are presented to the church’s Administrative Council or other appropriate committee within the church for approval.

What does it mean to be “at risk”?

Dr. Stephan Haney

As we weigh how to renew worship within the four walls of Laurel Heights UMC, our first priority is the continued protection of those most at risk of infection. Ironically, the most serious obstacle in protecting the vulnerable is personal denial . . . denial that the risk may actually apply to us.  What follows is one approach to answering the question: “Am I at high-risk if I become infected with COVID-19.”

Each of us live our lives with risks:  risk of having a car accident, risk of having a heart attack, risk of getting COVID-19. Risks are things that endanger us—our health, our lives, and our happiness. We cannot avoid risks entirely, but we can improve our odds by managing our behaviors. There is a risk of being struck by lightning. The odds are that 1 in 700,000 people will be struck in the U.S. this year. But you can greatly improve those odds for yourself by staying out of the open during a thunderstorm. In fact, with prudent actions, you can be virtually certain that you will not be struck by lightning. Behavior matters.  It matters a great deal.

That side of risk management seems obvious enough. We can minimize our risks by avoiding the actions that expose us to them. Concerned with an auto accident—drive more carefully. Concerned with heart disease—quit smoking, lose weight, manage your hypertension. Anxious about getting a contagious disease —well . . . we know now more than ever before how to minimize that . . . isolate yourself, avoid contact with those who are potentially infected, become germ phobic.

But the most pressing question at this moment is: “How can we get on with our lives without putting ourselves at unnecessary risk of contracting COVID-19?” The first step in answering that question is an objective look at what our individual risks are. Some diseases can be relatively benign for most of the population and, yet, fatal for a small segment of that same population. Measles is a good example of that. If you are old enough, you will remember a time when measles was pandemic. Measles is highly contagious, and before vaccines, we viewed it as an inevitable childhood experience—an unpleasant one, but not generally serious.  We tried to protect infants and the very young from exposure, because they were the population most at risk of serious consequence and death. Even today with vaccines available, 180,000 lives were lost worldwide in 2018 to measles.

In many ways, COVID-19 is reminiscent of that time. Like measles, COVID-19 is highly transmissible, with a contagion rate 2-3 times greater than seasonal flu and comparable to that of smallpox. Like measles, COVID-19 is more of an inconvenient disease for most people rather than one of serious consequence. But like measles, the risk for those who are vulnerable can be grievous. So who are those most vulnerable to serious infection and death to COVID-19? The Centers for Disease Control (cdc.gov/coronavirus) has a long list of conditions that put us at higher risk (see the table at the end), but we sometimes have a hard time believing our own conditions are serious enough to matter. We tend to curate our own health conditions in ways that suit our purposes best. One objective way of answering who is at greatest risk is to ask, “Who would be most at risk of dying if they got pneumonia and were hospitalized, irrespective of COVID-19?” You can answer that question intuitively: those with serious underlying diseases and the elderly. 

If you feel that pneumonia would be a serious health risk for you, then COVID-19 is particularly dangerous. If you are at extreme risk, consider continuing to shelter at home until a COVID-19 vaccine is available or until an effective treatment is discovered. In any case, weigh the benefit of each public outing versus the risk of exposure. When we do go out, we can minimize our risk of exposure to COVID-19 by following the new norms for public and private behavior: social distancing, avoiding close contact with others who could be contagious, washing hands frequently, disinfecting commonly touched surfaces, and avoiding large public gatherings. We can minimize our risk to others by: wearing a mask in public; minimizing physical contact; and staying home if we feel ill, have respiratory symptoms (coughing, sneezing, difficulty breathing), have a fever, or have been possibly exposed. Good compliance with these guidelines can greatly reduce the risk of exposure, but a small risk is encountered each time we venture into the public. No one can tell you what you should do, because only you can weigh the benefit of an activity versus its inherent risk.

As we begin this transition from isolation to renewed contact, your behavior will largely define your risk of COVID-19 infection. If you are at high risk according to the CDC, or if hospitalization from pneumonia would prove life threatening for you, continued virtual worship services might be prudent. We will miss you in the sanctuary, but you will remain close to our hearts until conditions allow your safe return.

Those at High Risk for Severe Illness from COVID-19

cdc.gov