Good Morning Church,
As we get into this weekend, our church leadership wants to make you aware of an event at the Stumble Inn that took place last Saturday, September 24. That evening, the Stumble Inn hosted a party in the same reception hall as we use for Sunday morning worship. Yesterday, the Stumble Inn staff learned some individuals who attended this party tested positive for COVID-19 later on in the week. As a leadership team, we were made aware of the situation and have spent some time analyzing how we should respond. Importantly, our goal is always to keep everyone in our church safe and well informed, which is why we are contacting you this morning. Having said this, we are planning to move forward with in-person worship as normal. Here are a few reasons explaining why we feel confident making this decision:
1. The primary risk of contagion between our church and this party took place last Sunday, September 25. This is due to a window of less than 24 hours between our gathering and the Saturday night event. Research indicates COVID-19 strains can survive on surfaces for up to 72 hours, so we want to be aware there is a possibility some of our people were exposed to the virus by coming to worship last Sunday morning. Though this is a possibility, we firmly believe the safety measures we’ve conducted over the last two months virtually erase any risk. Specifically, we have been using a medical grade
disinfectant called Sporicidin at every meeting in the Stumble Inn. Sporicidin is capable of continuously destroying bacteria for months on end. Furthermore, we are spraying this solution every week as overkill. Therefore, we are confident the reception hall remains disinfected for the entire week between our worship services.
2. We are not aware of any church members who attended the previously mentioned party on September 24. This means we have no reason to believe any contagion took place between individuals at the party and members of our church.
3. Upon hearing the news of this party, the Stumble Inn has undertaken extreme safety
measures to sanitize their facility. This includes a deep cleaning of their entire building and two applications of sanitizing solutions which they use as part of their protocols. Again, this reassures our confidence of meeting for in-person worship tomorrow because of the extra safety measures that have just taken place this weekend.
Obviously, there is always uncertainty in this situation or any situation during this pandemic season. Admittedly, we believe our proactive measures along with the Stumble Inn’s appropriate reactions are enough to negate last Saturday’s event and any risk spreading from it. However, we want every family in our church to be empowered to make their own decisions. In regards to tomorrow’s in-person worship service, we hope the above information allows you to make the best decision for your family. Thank you for taking the time to read this update and may God bless your weekend!
The Three Timbers Leadership Team