June 4, 2020
To all CFC Members
Dear Church Family:
It has been about three months since we had our last worship service in our church facility and the Southern California Conference has recommended that churches reopen for in-person worship services this Sabbath, June 6, 2020. This recommendation was given along with a set of guidelines from the Conference based on requirements sent by government and health authorities.
In a meeting held via Zoom on Wednesday, May 27, 2020, our church officers decided that we delay our church reopening for in-person worship services. This action was taken in view of the fact that some of the guidelines are not favorable or convenient to many in our congregation. Some of these guidelines include the following:
- Vulnerable members of the congregation are not allowed to participate in these in-person worship services, which include those who are 65 years old and over, those with underlying health conditions like asthma, chronic lung disease, diabetes, kidney problems including those undergoing dialysis, cancer, etc
- Attendance is limited to 100 or 25% of the seating capacity of the building, whichever is lower
- Singing is not allowed though instrumental or recorded music may be used
- Children may attend but are not allowed to have their own programs or activities
- Potlucks or fellowship lunches and drinking fountains are not allowed. Bottled water may be served
- Face masks or coverings are to be used at all times
- Time for services are limited and the building is to be closed after the service
These are just a few of the requirements, not to mention the disinfecting of the building especially the high touch areas like doorknobs, elevators, stairwells and restrooms which have to be done more frequently during the services, the observance of social distancing in the place of worship including the parking lot where cars are to be parked in every other space, verbal screening for respiratory illness and fever and temperature check for every worshiper that comes inside the building, preregistration for those in attendance which includes name, phone number and email address and a host of other measures.
These guidelines are very involved and very inconvenient to say the least although they are meant for our own safety and protection. Which also means that the risks for infection are still very high and that the pandemic is still very active in our own area. And this is substantiated by very high average daily reports of newly confirmed cases of infection and deaths occurring here in our state of California even at the present time.
So for now, we will continue to have our church services on line through Zoom conferencing and Facebook. We encourage you to join these virtual worship services. If you haven’t joined these virtual meetings yet, please get hold of any of the pastors or elders or ask for assistance from Mike Wong or Eric de la Cruz. Our schedules are as follows:
Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting- 7:30 pm
Friday Vespers- 7:30 pm
Sabbath Services
Sabbath School Lesson Study- 9:30 am
Divine Worship- 11:00 am
Sundown Worship- 5:30 pm
I also want to encourage you to continue to be faithful in returning your tithe and contributing towards the support of our local church combined budget. You can donate online. Just log on to our CFC website at centralfilipino.org, click donate and follow the prompts. Or you can send it by check and mail it to the church address. Our church secretary checks our mails every day.
Thank you very much and I pray you all continue to be strong and faithful in the Lord. Stay home for now and be safe until we are able to meet in person at our beloved church facility again.
Blessings,
Pastor Simeon Rosete