CORONAVIRUS IN SOUTH AFRICA
For accurate and up to date information please visit www.sacoronavirus.co.za
COVID-19 RESOURCE
With the amount of false information on social media and even in the news, some medical professionals from Common Ground have put together this incredible resource to help us with PREVENTION, DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT and other useful information for you to use during this time.
17 March 2020
Dear Common Ground Church Family
It is not often that we communicate with all Common Grounders across all our congregations, but in these unusual and unprecedented times we would like to take the opportunity to communicate some important decisions with you all. We will begin with some practical considerations (which are likely top of people’s minds) and then remind us of the call to be a people of hope and faith, allowing our lights to shine brightly in these dark times.
Following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s national address on Sunday evening, we as the Common Ground family, are committed to following the guidelines and suggestions made for the health and physical well-being of our city. We are embracing the call to social distancing and following the call of the government for no groups over 100 to meet.
Recognising that there are no quick fixes to this situation and that things are changing on a daily basis; we have adopted a stage by stage response. We have identified that there is an “initial stage” as determined by the timeline set by the new school holiday time period (which now runs until after the Easter weekend) and this letter addresses our approach to this period.
Sunday Meetings and Events
Although physical health and wellbeing is a priority, staying connected and being the church is of equal importance. Even though we are calling for social distancing we are not calling for social disconnection. We see throughout Scripture that during difficult times or challenges the church never closed but rather, how the community gathered shifted and changed. We often say that church is not a building, but the church is the people of God - this season will give us new opportunities to discover and express that.
During this initial stage, we will not be officially gathering together at any of our Common Ground Congregations over the next four Sundays (22, 29 March and 5, 12 April). Additionally, all Common Ground collective events have been either cancelled or postponed.
What we will be doing is offering an online Sunday experience, via our Facebook pages which we are encouraging ALL Common Grounders, no matter where you are, to participate in. This service will contain elements of worship, prayer and preaching - allowing us to continue to sit under God’s word as a body in this season. We envision individuals and families participating in this expression of Sunday worship. This will go live on your congregational Facebook page at your regular meeting time so that there is still an expression of “gathering together”. It will remain on the page once it has gone live so that is still available to you at a later stage.
On Easter weekend, a highlight moment in our Christian calendar, we will do one “all together” live-streaming service at 9.30am on Good Friday (10 April) and at 9.30am Easter Sunday (12 April) and we encourage all to dial in, wherever you are, to participate in this with us.
Prayer meetings
While official prayer gatherings are not able to happen, we call all Common Grounders to continue to be a people of prayer wherever you are - personally, in families, in smaller groups, so that we continue to bring ourselves, our city and our world before God.
Life Groups and Smaller Gatherings
For those in life groups we ask that you increase your levels of connection - through phone calls and WhatsApp’s - to encourage, connect and strengthen each other in this season. Please share prayer requests and offer support and practical help where possible. No doubt many creative expressions of community will be birthed at this time.
We do, however, feel it is wise and kind to lean into the call for social distancing and that generally we would actively encourage this for the sake of the vulnerable in our community and city. And so, our recommendation is that life groups do not gather and meet together physically.
However, there is some discretion and sensitivity needed here, as we recognise that for those who are single or not connected in a family unit, this can be a very isolating time. Obviously gathering with anyone else at all increases one’s personal risk of infection. This personal risk must be weighed, especially over the coming weeks or months, against the very real benefits of fellowship in person and the mental, emotional, and physical risks of complete isolation. And so, as individuals, families, groups of families and smaller groups you may feel you have confidence to connect (i.e. the risk in meeting together is low). For these gatherings, we recommend you follow the guidelines below, or any other updated guidelines provided by the government.
Groups of less than ten people could meet with minimal risk to public health, provided that:
1) No one present is sick or has any reason to think they have been exposed to COVID-19
2) Shared surfaces are disinfected before and after the meeting
3) Everyone washes their hands thoroughly (more than 20 seconds) upon arrival and upon returning to their home
4) Food and drink are served individually, and
5) As much distance as possible is maintained between members of different households and their belongings.
Expressing care
Please also prayerfully consider thoughtful, loving and safe ways to care for those around you. Reach out to a neighbour who may be stuck at home and offer to pick up extra groceries or cook an extra meal and offer to deliver it. Check-in with your at-risk family members and neighbours, particularly the sick, lonely or elderly. Offer to shop for them and/or pray with them. Keep social contact high with phone calls and messages – especially consider those not in a family setting. Increase meal invitations to singles due to no social/ church gatherings. Help those with practical needs in your circles and spheres.
Personal Spiritual Responsibility
As we have been learning, every routine, discipline and experience forms and shapes who we are becoming as people. In this unusual season, where we will not have our usual routines of meeting and worshipping together but may experience extra elements of slowing, let’s use our time wisely and continue to press into God purposefully through the following spiritual practices:
1. Continue to prioritise your personal devotional life
2. Continue to be a person of prayer
3. Continue to prioritise the online Sunday teaching and worship experience
4. Continue to live in real expressions of community - even though this might look quite unusual and different
5. Continue to show love and care
A non-anxious presence in the City
This past Sunday we were reminded from Jeremiah 29 that we are a people called to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it”. This call can take on various forms at different times in history but this current season of great health risk, pending economic difficulty and various unknown political uncertainties, requires us to bring the unique message of the true hope of Jesus’ peace and to be a non-anxious presence in our city.
We encourage all Common Grounders to continue to fill this city with the message, life and fame of Jesus over the next few weeks, especially through our words of peace and actions of care.
We remember the encouragement of Jude to the church during these troubled times:
“But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love. And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering.”(Jude 1: 20 -21)
Just a reminder that this letter covers the period until just after the Easter weekend. We will keep communicating updates as we have them and as things unfold. We encourage you to stay connected on our various congregational communication platforms over this time.
With love,
The Congregational Leaders of Common Ground Church