Midweek Message

Update, July 6, 2021

Jim Hopkins

July 5, 2021

Family,

We return to in-person worship this Sunday. If you are planning on joining us please use this link to register.

If you are not able to be with us in-person you can be part of the service via our YouTube livestream using this link.

A Zoom connection to the livestream will also be available via the link we have grown accustomed to using.

My hope is that we will have a good number of people connecting through each of the three options.

Since we are livestreaming there is a chance that in-person worshippers will be shown on camera. We understand that you come to church to worship and that worship can be a private matter. We have the cameras placed accordingly. However, as the cameras follow the flow of the service, we would be remiss in promising that only the images of those leading worship will be seen. To avoid showing the images of children our plan for the Children’s Story is to have the story teller face the camera with the children facing that person meaning their backs will be to the camera.

This information from Marc Buffin and the Re-Gathering Task Force is representative of reasons why we are proceeding very cautiously (wearing masks, maintaining social distance, keeping the sanctuary windows open etc) into the process of re-gathering.

COVID cases up more than 20% in Bay Area, California since June 15 reopening (CBS News)

Updated: July 1, 2021 6:45 p.m.

New coronavirus cases have jumped more than 20% in California and the Bay Area since the state’s June 15 reopening — a sign that even as residents embrace a return to normalcy, the virus can still spread among unvaccinated people and will likely linger for months to come.

State and local health officials had predicted a rise in new cases after June 15, when California lifted nearly all pandemic restrictions on public life. Case rates are still considered low, at fewer than 3 new infections per 100,000 people statewide and in the Bay Area. 

In the Bay Area, the biggest jump in new cases is in Alameda County, which has seen a 55% increase since June 15. New cases are up 22% in San Francisco, 27% in Contra Costa County and 35% in Marin County, according to Chronicle data.

The rise in new cases can be attributed to three factors: the reopening, the fact that nearly a third of people eligible to be vaccinated have not received a shot and the spread of the more contagious delta variant, said local health officials and infectious disease experts.

Most of the new cases are among people who have not been vaccinated, including young adults and teenagers, and in areas that have lower vaccination rates, health officials said.

On LABC Zoom this week – Together In Spirit, Thursday 6:00 pm, A Time for Prayer, Saturday 10:00 am.