Standing Committee Provides Update on COVID-19 Guidance

After consulting with medical professionals, other dioceses, and with the consent of our Bishop-elect Ruth Woodliff-Stanley, the Standing Committee President, the Rev. Rob Donehue, shared a letter today on behalf of the entire committee updating the guidance for our diocese in light of the recent increase in COVID-19 cases caused by the delta variant. Read the entire letter below, or as a .pdf at this link.

---

August 4, 2021
 
 
Dear faithful people of the Diocese of South Carolina,
 
Thank you for your grace, compassion, and faith-filled leadership as we continue to navigate the uncharted waters of COVID-19 together. Unfortunately, just when we were all beginning to be able to implement less restrictive protocols, the Delta variant has placed even the fully vaccinated in danger.
 
After consulting with medical professionals, other dioceses, and with the consent of our Bishop-elect, we ask all parishes in our diocese to adopt the following precautionary measures:
 

• Strongly encourage all parishioners to get vaccinated. Please consider providing assistance, such as transportation or access to medical resources, as necessary.
• Remind parishioners to stay home when experiencing any symptoms and seek COVID-19 testing at the onset of symptoms.
• All parishioners, clergy, and staff wear masks for indoor services.
• Maintain distances between 3 and 6 feet between households of parishioners for indoor services. Fellowship gatherings encouraged outdoors whenever possible. Outdoor services are also encouraged whenever possible.
• Continue or implement online worship for adults and children as well as holding meetings virtually whenever possible.
• Holy Communion is to continue in one kind only.
• Parishioners pass the peace without physical contact and maintaining social distancing.
• When offering nursery, children’s chapel or Sunday school, leadership and families should exercise informed prudence and appropriate safety measures to include suspension of these services until further notice.
• Participants wear masks when congregational or choral music is a part of a service. This includes practice and preparatory sessions as well.

 
We will revisit these protocols at least monthly or more often as conditions change. For specific information about your county, please see: https://covidactnow.org/us/south_carolina-sc/?s=21201043 or the CDC website at https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker.
 
As your Standing Committee, we are deeply grateful for your prayers, creativity, patience, ingenuity, and grace that you have demonstrated during this unprecedented time. We ask you to continue just bit longer, firmly in hope, trusting, in the great gifts and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
 
Faithfully yours,
 
The Reverend Rob Donehue (on behalf of the Standing Committee)
President of the Standing Committee 
​