WELLSPRING COVID UPDATE FROM PASTOR RICK

On Sunday evening, November 29th, Jenn Olszyk our Director of Wellspring Kids, began to detect a loss of taste and smell.  She and her husband, Mark, proceeded to get tested for COVID first thing the next morning.  Jenn’s test came back positive late Wednesday afternoon; Mark tested negative.  Jenn and Mark have been isolating since Sunday night and will continue to do so for the prescribed ten days.  Jenn will not return to any duties or activities at Wellspring until she has been cleared to do so by lack of symptoms for the prescribed number of days.

Unfortunately, Jenn was present at service on Sunday morning, the 29^th, and she led Wellspring Kids that morning.  Those children and her co-workers may have been exposed to the virus through contact with Jenn (even though she was wearing her mask, as is the policy for Wellspring Kids workers).   Jenn has reached out to all of her co-workers and the families involved and notified them directly of this news.  As you can imagine, Jenn is heartsick over this development and is very concerned for the children and families involved.  She herself has developed some further symptoms of the virus.  Please pray for her.

In keeping with our commitment to transparency and sharing information during this pandemic, we wanted to let all the Wellspring family know of this development.  In addition to notifying families and the other helpers in Wellspring Kids, we are taking the following actions:

• Kids Church at 9 AM this Sunday, December 6^th is cancelled.  CLASSES WILL RESUME ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13TH.
• Kids Drama Club was cancelled this past week and will also be cancelled December 8^th.
• Kids Christmas Skit on Sunday, December 20^th is cancelled.  (It was not an easy decision to cancel the Christmas skit the kids have been working on, but there simply won’t be enough rehearsals to be ready for December 20^th.)

Further, I think it is important for all of you to know that the only staff people Jenn had close contact with for the five days PRIOR to her initial symptoms was Christina Krampitz, a staff helper in Children’s Ministry, and John Rosario, the Youth Ministry leader.  Christina has gotten tested for Covid and will quarantine until she is cleared (she tested negative).   Youth group met virtually this past week and will do so again this coming week.  John and his family will not be at church this weekend (they tested negative).  The reason the rest of the staff had no contact with Jenn for the five days prior to her becoming ill is that it was Thanksgiving week and many took days off or worked from home.  Chris Ann Tufts was off for a long weekend because of the holiday and was not at Wellspring on Sunday.

Throughout this pandemic we have sought to protect the health of our congregants and to be wise in how we proceed to reopen Wellspring for services, classes and small groups.  We have sought to follow the guidance of health authorities and to empower and honor the choices of individual congregants as to the nature of their involvement. We plan to continue to follow these values going forward.

I also want to take this opportunity to remind you of the basic safety protocols we are following here at Wellspring.  In these we have looked to the CDC as our authority.  If you are ill, or if you have been directly exposed to someone with COVID, please stay home for safety’s sake.  Hand sanitizer is available at the entrance and throughout the building, and you are encouraged to make use of it.  On 12/26/20, we updated our COVID protocols: All attendees are expected to wear appropriate face coverings before, during and after all public gatherings at Wellspring.  We want to make it possible for many of you to attend in-person who have not felt it wise or safe to do so. Our recent in-person attendance numbers have been within the state guidelines and we have removed about half of our chairs to make it possible for appropriate distancing between rows. And should attendance require us to add additional services in order to safely accommodate all who would like to be here, we will figure out a way to make that happen. In short, there is room for you if you would like to be here!   And of course, we continue to live stream our 9:00 AM services for those who want to take part from home.

Thanks to all of you for your continued support, encouragement and prayers for Wellspring during this challenging season.  We are trusting in the Lord as we navigate the twists and turns of this unusual year.

Blessings

Pastor Rick