COVID-19 Information

Current COVID-19 Community Level (Updated May 12, 2023)

 

Current COVID-19 Precautions at Assembly Mennonite Church

  • We welcome everyone to gather in person, indoors, for weekly Sunday morning worship and Sunday school.
  • Worship services will be live-streamed via Zoom at this link: https://zoom.us/j/9995275153.
  • Masks are optional for worship and other group settings. People may choose to mask at any time.
    • While many in our faith family are thankful masks are no longer required, a fair number of us feel the need to be even more careful when at church, and some are deciding to return to joining worship by Zoom.
    • We encourage everyone to stay up-to-date on vaccines & boosters and encourage anyone who is not feeling well to join us on Zoom.
      • Parents should contact Sunday school teachers directly if they are sending kids to Sunday school during days 6 through 10 after a positive COVID test. During this time children are asked to wear a mask during Sunday school and sit apart from the group during snack.
    • If Elkhart County’s Community Risk Level becomes “High” according to covidactnow.org, masks will again be required indoors for everyone over age 2.
  • Sunday school teachers and child care providers will be required to be vaccinated and boosted.
  • We continue to ask everyone to follow current CDC guidelines for Elkhart County. This includes:
      • Stay up to date on vaccination, including recommended booster doses.
      • Avoid contact with people who have suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
      • Follow recommendations for isolation if you have suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
      • Follow the recommendations for what to do if you are exposed to someone with COVID-19.
      • If you are at high risk of getting very sick, talk with a healthcare provider about additional prevention actions.
    • The CDC continues to encourage access to COVID-19 testing for all people, including point-of-care and at-home tests, and continues to encourage isolation among people who test positive for COVID. So, please consider getting tested for COVID-19 if you have symptoms or if you are exposed to someone with COVID-19.
    • The CDC also encourages masking if the COVID-19 Hospital Admission rate is Medium or High. (See https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html)
  • Small groups and other Assembly and Faith participants are welcome to reserve space in the meetinghouse. Check the Facility Use/Reservations Calendar here. Please contact the church office to reserve space.
  • We ask everyone to follow current CDC guidelines for Elkhart County when gathering in the meetinghouse. Event organizers/hosts may request that their guests take additional precautions.
  • More Information
  • COVID-19 Vaccination Information: Anyone age 6 months and older may receive the safe, effective and free COVID-19 vaccine.
  • Assembly is blessed with both a large congregation (so that we cannot practice physical distancing in our worship space) and a very age-diverse congregation (including both elderly members who are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 even when vaccinated, and families with children who attend many different schools in the area). This presents us with challenges not all congregations have when considering how to safely gather for in-person worship.
  • We are also blessed with a congregation that has a very high vaccination rate.
  • If you have any questions or feedback regarding our COVID-19 policies, please contact Randy Roth, the chair of Leadership Group.

 

Current COVID-19 Public Health Data

  • The CDC COVID Data Tracker no longer provides COVID-19 Community Levels or COVID-19 Community Transmission Levels. For now, data continues to be available at covidactnow.org.
  • According to the World Health Organization, “COVID-19 is now an established and ongoing health issue which no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.”
  • CNN has reported: “Covid-19 continues to spread, the virus is evolving and remains a global health threat, but at a lower level of concern, according to WHO officials. ‘There’s still a public health threat out there, and we all see that every day in terms of the evolution of this virus, in terms of its global presence, its continued evolution and continued vulnerabilities in our communities'”
  • The CDC is providing county-by-county COVID-19 Hospital Admission Levels.

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