Yesterday the Governor unveiled the new Ohio Public Health Advisory System. After prayerfully considering the state of the pandemic, Bishop Breidenthal issued the following directive:
I have made the difficult but necessary decision that any of our congregations located in counties that fall within alert level 3 or 4 as defined by the state, should revert back to phase 1 as set out in our Phased Return to Increasing In-person Parish Life document. This means that no in-person services can take place in those specific counties.
This data should be reviewed on a weekly basis. Should your county go down to an alert level 2, then your leaders (clergy and vestry) will need to decide if/when to return to in-person services. Please use caution when making this decision. Staffing of your respective buildings should be reviewed in a similar light.
In addition, both Columbus and Dayton have issued orders requiring face masks to be worn whenever you are outside of your home. Cincinnati city council is meeting on Friday to vote on a similar order. We urge you to follow the orders applicable to your area.
Following the Bishop’s directive, we will suspend plans for reopening in-person worship on the weekend of July 19th. We will also ask all groups that use the building to return to meeting online until the Bishop allows us to return to phase 2 reopening. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns.
