South Main family,
Being together safely as a church is our goal, and while we need to remain agile as conditions continue to develop in our community, we are happy to announce that on August 12, SMBC will move to Phase 2 of our reopening plan.
First, we want to provide a little background about our ongoing work as South Main's COVID-19 Advisory Task Force. Over the past several months, we have regularly monitored medical opinions and data from multiple sources. Initially, our primary metric was the Texas Medical Center's Positive Daily Case Growth Trend. As time has passed, and we know more about COVID-19, we have expanded our metrics to also include daily hospitalizations, the ICU/Medical & Surgical capacity in the Texas Medical Center, and this website from Georgia Institute of Technology that shows the likelihood of any one person having COVID-19 in any given gathering, based on size and county.
Using these four metrics as our guide, we feel we can now reopen safely for small groups. While positive COVID-19 cases are increasing somewhat following a period of decline from the recent surge, we are heartened by the continued decline of hospitalizations and ICU/Med&Surg patients in our hospitals.
With all this in mind, SMBC will advance to Phase 2 of our reopening plan on Wednesday, August 12. Phase 2 includes certain small group gatherings of 25 or fewer outdoors, and 10 or fewer indoors, wearing masks and socially distanced. This includes gatherings for our adult communities along with the 527 Tribe and Youth.
You can read more detail about our full phased plan here and see the detailed guidelines and protocols for Phases 1 and 2 here.
We plan to move through the phases as it is safe to do so; however if conditions in the Houston area deteriorate, or we're not, as we begin to meet and fellowship, social distancing and wearing masks to stay safe, a step back in the process may be required. We're going to have to look out for each other and follow the guidelines together.
For those in our congregation who may be in vulnerable populations, or are simply uncomfortable with returning to church activities at this time, we fully encourage and support your decision to stay home and stay connected online for now.
Both this phased plan and the decision to move to Phase 2 have come about after many meetings, lots of research, and consultation with experts in our church and in the community about how we can reopen safely. Thoughtful and prayerful consideration has been given to what is reasonable and best for our particular church at this moment.
Thank you for your continued prayerful support as we, and the entire South Main family, navigate these unprecedented days.
Sincerely,
South Main's COVID-19 Advisory Task Force
Wade Cline
Claire Frazier
Jason Harper
Brad Jernberg
Nancy McNiel
Susan Moore
Clint Pasche
Lauren Raimer-Goodman
Randy Taylor
Steve Wells
