Noblesville Friends Church

About Coronavirus Precautions, March 2020

[UPDATE March 21, 2020]: Good morning! I hope you all are staying well and have what you need at home. These are remarkable times filled with uncertainty and sweeping (and often alarming) changes. I want to encourage you all that God is right here in this with us; God hears and responds to our prayers; and God has a plan for good that will emerge with us from this unusual and unsettling time. I also want to encourage you with the far-reaching preparations I see happening at Hancock Health, where I work during the week. We have established a COVID Triage hotline. The number is 317-325-2683 and it is staffed 24 hours a day. We also have a COVID Triage clinic that is off-site where people with virus symptoms can be evaluated without coming to the ER. We are refitting areas in our hospital to accommodate more patients, working on supply to ensure we have what we need to treat those in need, and preparing areas to become places where physicians and nurses can sleep when and if we need staff to be on premises continually. I am part of the mental health response team, preparing resources and being present for staff, who as you can imagine, are under enormous stress as all this unfolds. 

Our hospice chaplains started a blog a few weeks ago that turns out to be timely. It offers a reflection each weekday designed to bring a sense of peace and comfort. It's called "A Morning Grace" and here is the link: https://amorninggrace.wordpress.com/

At Noblesville Friends, following the recommendations not to gather, we are canceling meeting for worship at the meetinghouse until April 5. At that time we will re-evaluate and let you all know about reconvening. I will continue to write and post my messages on our blog, "The Space between the Words," each Sunday, and I'm also going to try recording my messages so that if you prefer listening over reading you can get the messages that way. 

I'd also like to offer for those who miss everyone's faces and voices (I know I do!!), an option online where we can all gather, check-in, and then have a prayer together on Sunday mornings. So I've created a 30-minute online meeting called, "Friends Together," that will occur each Sunday morning at 10:30 am. You can join us from your computer or your phone, whichever you prefer, by simply tapping or clicking this link:

Join "Friends Together" Meeting: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/996737795

I feel this will help us all feel a sense of continuing connection which is so important right now. Our physical selves need to be separate for a time, but if our faith teaches us anything, it is that the "physical" is not the ultimate and lasting reality. Our love, our connections, our hopes, our prayers, our good intentions, our kindness wraps around all those we carry in our hearts. That is all possible because God first loves us with an everlasting love, which flows through us into our world. So keep sharing your light, Friends. God is seeing us through this time. Let's remember to be grateful for that.

So I hope you'll try the link above to join us for prayer, continue to read the messages we post, and encourage yourselves so your spirits stay strong in faith and trust in God. There is no greater force than God's love, and the closer we stay to that force, the better we are...in times of challenge or in times of ease.

Thinking of you all and missing you, and of course our wonderful Praying Friends group continues to pray for us all. Please continue to send along any prayer needs you have. If we can answer questions or help you with something (getting medications, needed supplies, and so forth), please reach out.

God's love to you all, covering you, protecting you, comforting you,

Katherine


[FIRST POST] Greetings, Friends, I thought I'd send out a message to let you all know what we're doing to help everyone stay healthy in the midst of the concern about coronavirus. No doubt you heard that there is now a confirmed case in Indianapolis. At the hospital where I work during the week, precautions are already being put in place to protect visitors in public areas and throughout the hospital. They removed all our public coffee machines (which was a big disappointment, I must admit) and took newspapers and magazines out of waiting rooms and doctors' offices. There will be more changes to come next week, and they are already educating all staff on coronavirus precautions, symptoms, and responses.

I spoke with our infection control specialist yesterday (who is continually in contact with the CDC and the State Health Department) and she said they are treating the virus as both airborne and contact contagious, meaning the virus can live on surfaces we commonly touch or cough/sneeze on for several days. So before you all arrive on Sunday mornings for the next few weeks while the virus is active, we will make sure to wipe down common contact surfaces (light switches, door handles, pew backs, countertops, etc.) with disinfectant wipes. We also have plenty of soap and hand-sanitizer available.

The CDC issued guidelines yesterday suggesting that because the coronavirus is particularly hard on older adults, people may want to consider staying home and avoiding crowds as much as possible if they have chronic conditions like COPD, CHF, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and more. People with compromised immune systems are more vulnerable to the virus.

We certainly want everyone to feel comfortable coming to meeting, but if you are concerned about being out, please take good care of yourself and stay home. Our messages are posted online each week at http://spacebetweenwordsweb.wordpress.com) and I'm glad to come visit if you would like that. Just let me know. 

Here are a few links you might find helpful:

As you know, I'm a big believer in the protective and healing power of prayer, and I think our best response in times such as these is to pray with confidence in God's constant and able presence, while holding those we love and those who might be vulnerable also in God's loving Light. As Jesus said in Matthew 10:16, we need to be "wise as serpents and gentle as doves," so even while we pray and trust God, let's do the practical things we need to do to ensure that we stay healthy and make choices that support the well-being of all.

Much love and light to you all, Friends. Contact us with any questions!

Blessings,

Katherine

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