Dear Brothers and Sisters,
As you are aware, the State of California announced a full economic re-opening on Tuesday, June 15. Info on what will change on that date can be found here and LA County announced that it will align with state plans. We rejoice that health conditions in Los Angeles County have improved. Daily cases have decreased to around 200, much lower than the previous heights.
What does this mean for the church? We continue to monitor and process the guidance from the CDC, State of California and LA County. We plan orderly changes to our re-opening and continue to consider matters of practical implementation for our volunteers and members. In this update we want to give a sense of how we are approaching the June 15 date and how our processes will change and ministries will be restored over time:
Screening Questions continue to be important because of travel advisories and the different strains in other countries. At the same time, vaccination makes domestic travel safer than before. We will update our screening questions with these two ideas in mind and continue to ask that members RSVP for worship service so that you are aware of the screening questions before you arrive. We are actively looking for a date when RSVP will no longer be needed.
Face Coverings are now optional for those on stage who have been vaccinated. Face coverings continue to be required at all other times while indoors at church, until such time as they are not a requirement for any people. This is out of recognition of youth settings, mixed groups of vaccinated and unvaccinated, and our desire to have clear guidelines.
Singing Guidance is being updated. As we have shared in worship service, we are encouraging those physically present to “sing softly” and we want those who come to worship service to feel comfortable and safe, facilitated in part by face coverings and air filtration, and able to express their worship in song to God.
Other ministries are actively being restored in-person. Children’s Ministry has begun to open. One adult Sunday school class has begun hybrid instruction. And later this month the Boy Scouts will begin to use areas of the GWC instead of keeping all of their activity outside on the parking lot. However, we also recognize the challenges of fragmentation, technical requirements, and scheduling. Some ministries pause for the summer while others have already begun a new quarter online. To this end we are looking to coordinate a major return to in-person ministries in September.
We want to thank you for your prayers and patience as we navigate the complexities of changing guidelines & procedures and plan an orderly return together. We praise God that in-person worship services have been held without major issue for over a month and for all the teams that enable the livestreams to function. While we coordinate the return of ministries we are also working very hard to improve our network infrastructure to be able to handle additional, concurrent events on the campus.
各位親愛的弟兄姊妹們，如您所知，加州州政府日前宣布將於六月十五日全面重啟經濟，您可在此瀏覽相關訊息。洛杉磯縣（洛縣）公共衛生局亦宣布將跟進州政府之全面重啟計劃。洛縣目前每日新增確診人數在200人左右，較先前疫情嚴峻時減少了許多。我們為著洛縣健康環境的普遍改善而歡喜快樂。
從教會的觀點，全面重啟意味著什麼？教會不斷持續關注並了解疾病控制預防中心（CDC），加州和洛縣所發布的重啟最新指示。我們借助教會義工及會員以務實可行的方式，循序漸進地重啟教會崇拜及其他聚會活動。在本次更新中，我們將提供有關教會對六月十五日加州全面重啟的取向，教會重啟程序將作的修正，以及未來一段時間內教會事工將如何漸次恢復等資訊。
檢測問題 - 由於新冠肺炎相關的旅行警示及各種突變病毒，因此檢測問題在登記及報到過程中仍屬必須。在此同時，因著美國疫苗接種人數的增加，國內旅行已較先前安全了許多。教會崇拜登記的檢測問題將包括這兩點，並繼續要求會友預先為崇拜出席作登記，因此當您到達教會時，您已熟悉檢測問題。我們正認真考量並盼望很快就能釐定出一個日期，從那時起參與實體崇拜將不再須要預先登記。
口罩 - 在台上事奉的教牧同工及弟兄姊妹們現在可選擇在崇拜服事時是否戴口罩。除此之外，直到政府作出所有人都不再需要戴口罩的宣布，所有參與者在教會室內仍須全時間戴口罩。此決定是為了保障大眾安全，基於兒童事工的重啟，群體中包涵著已接種及尚未接種者，以及教會仍等待政府頒布更明確的相關規定。
唱詩指示已有所更新。正如我們先前在崇拜中與會眾分享的，我們鼓勵參與實體崇拜的會友們”低吟輕唱”。我們也深切盼望所有在場的弟兄姊妹們因著大家都戴口罩，加上教會空氣過濾系統的加強，會感到自在和安全地以歌唱頌讚來敬拜神。
其他事工正審慎漸次地在恢復實體活動中。兒童事工已逐步恢復部分事工。成人主日學有一班已開始面對面及網上同步上課。例行在嘉惠堂聚集的童子軍們也將在本月底前開始在室內舉行活動，而不僅僅只在室外停車場聚集。在此同時，我們也深切了解因不同的重啟時刻表，網路技術上的需求，以及各種計畫安排的調度所帶來的挑戰。有些事工在夏季將暫停，有些則已在網路上開始了新的一季。從事工角度，我們正在朝著九月重啟的目標作準備。
當我們努力掌握極其複雜並不斷改變的規定和程序，以便策劃教會井然有序的重啟之時，我們特別要感謝所有弟兄姊妹們，感謝您們的代禱和耐心。我們感謝神，教會已平安順利地恢復有限度實體崇拜一個多月了。我們也感謝教會負責現場直播的影音團隊。在我們協調各事工恢復在教會的實體活動的同時，我們也特別留意強化教會網路系統功能，以便屆時多重事工能藉著教會網路在同一時間暢通進行。
