Office is open Mon-Thurs – Masks Required
Sunday Guidelines:
1) Masks Mandated - Please wear correctly and consistently.
2) Please do not share a ride or sit with people not in your household.
3) The cloakroom will be closed - too close for comfort.
4) Ushers will be directing people to their seats and dismissing by rows.
5) No kid's praise or nursery for a while and no children's message at the front.
6) An offering plate/basket will be in the back of the sanctuary for collection
at the end of service
7) Communion cups/loaf pre-distributed in pews.
8) Most doors will remain open to reduce touched surfaces.
9) Pastor will greet from 6' away at the end of services.
10) There will be no fellowship time (or food) in the narthex after the service.
Please go directly to your cars or to Sunday School in the Fellowship Hall.
11) Hallways will be one way - the "front" Hallway
will be for going from FH to Sanctuary.
12) The pews and tables will be disinfected after each use.
As you prayerfully discern whether you are ready to come back to public worship, we hope that this document is helpful as aid for your considerations. We are aware that each household is going to have to weigh the risks of being exposed to COVID19. Wesley UMC will continue to be on 96.5 FM at 10am on Sundays and will post services to YouTube linked on our website and FaceBook. Wesley UMC Worship – irregularly changed at a schedule beyond our control - can be seen on Bryan Cable Channel 4 on Sundays at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., Tuesday at 4:00 pm; and Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m.
The most important message I personally want to offer you is to just make sure you are ready—don't do anything you are not ready to do, whether that be public worship or any other activity that may involve some risk of exposure. Each person must discern for themselves the level of risk they are ready to take in whatever they do during these days of pandemic living. I look forward to connecting with each of you.
A crucial step is to stay informed about the virus, rather than fearful.
Pray for all those who are sick, for health care professionals and for government officials, as they deal with this health care crisis. We have faith that God's love is also contagious and stronger than any virus. Find Christ's Peace in the midst of this current trouble. Do not fear, but be humble and prayerful.
Sincerely and with many prayers for you,
Rev. Peter E. Paige
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If you are at high risk of severe illness due to COVID-19, please do not return to "normal" even if you are allowed to meet for Bible Studies, Service, or Worship.
According to the WHO, older adults and persons with pre-existing medical conditions or compromised immune systems are at a higher risk for severe illness from the virus. This includes people who have heart disease, lung disease, cancer, high blood pressure, or diabetes.
Uncertainty about the fatality rate for those infected by the new virus, dubbed SARS-CoV-2, or COVID-19, resulted from delays in testing, due to a shortage of test kits and testing labs. This left public health officials in the dark about the true rate of infection in the general population, which is needed to calculate what percentage of infected people die.
That being said, the mortality for COVID-19 appears much higher than the flu, especially seasonal influenza. While the true mortality of COVID-19 will take some time to fully understand, the data we have so far indicate that the crude mortality ratio is around one to three percent, (though in some places in the US it is being reported as high as 5.7%).
The infection mortality rate will in actuality be lower when we have more data. For seasonal influenza, mortality is usually well below one tenth of one percent. However, mortality is to a large extent determined by access to and quality of health care. Though we have "flattened the curve" and equipped our health care systems, with COVID-19 the risk of death grows exponentially with age over 50 and the conditions previously mentioned.
Again, if you are at high risk of severe illness due to COVID-19, please do not return to "normal" even if you are allowed to meet for Bible Studies, Service, or Worship.
