Who Should Stay Home & Why

Communicating & Caring

All members of our Grace family fall on a spectrum for more or fewer restrictions when it comes to guidelines for public services, to have more or fewer restrictions. To this end, our COVID-19 Response Team has developed the following guidelines.

Please read through these guidelines, & if any of them describe you, strongly consider staying home. We request this because we desire to care for our people & relieve any burden you might feel because you don’t want to miss out on gathering with everyone.

If you can’t gather with us in person, you still can join us online via our livestream at both 9 & 11 am on Sundays. We know this is a difficult season & we’re working hard to make sure you’re still connected during this time.

One day we will all be able to meet together. Until then, please exercise personal responsibility by being wise & cautious.

This is an abridged version of the full Who Should Stay Home & Why guidelines. The full guidelines & explanation are in the Sunday Morning Service Registration RSVP form.

Who Should Stay Home

  • Adults age 65+ (Ohio recommends 60; CDC recommends 65)
  • People who live in a nursing home or long-term care facility
  • Children < 2 years of age or those who won’t tolerate wearing a mask
  • Individuals & their families who are medium-to-high risk for having a severe illness. This includes (but isn’t limited to) individuals with the following conditions:
    • Moderate-to-severe asthma
    • Chronic lung disease
    • Diabetes
    • Serious heart conditions
    • Chronic kidney disease
    • Immunocompromised
      • Many conditions can cause a person to be immunocompromised, including the following:
        • Cancer treatment
        • Smoking
        • Bone marrow or organ transplants
        • Immune deficiencies
        • Poorly-controlled HIV or AIDS
        • Prolonged use of corticosteroids & other immune-weakening medications.
    • People with severe obesity (Body Mass Index [BMI] of 40 or higher)
    • Liver disease
  • Individuals & their families who feel ill in any way
  • Individuals & their families who have or have had the following symptoms in the last 14 days:
    • Cough (dry or productive)
    • Runny nose
    • Shortness of breath
    • Fever
    • Chills
    • Muscle pain
    • Sore throat
    • Nausea
    • Vomiting
    • Diarrhea
    • New loss of taste or smell
    • Other neurological issues
  • Anyone who has had prolonged exposure (due to their employment) with persons under investigation or confirmed positive persons with COVID-19 (SARS-Cov-2). This includes, but is not limited to:
    • First responders (police, fire, and EMS)
    • Hospital staff (physicians, nurses, respiratory therapy, etc.)
    • Nursing home/extended care facility staff (nurses, STNA, etc.)

Why You Should Stay Home

Obeying & Honoring Leadership

We give this exhortation with heavy hearts. Know that we're making decisions driven by our desire to obey & honor those in leadership over us & protect our people.

Protecting Others

By staying home, you're protecting yourself and others.

Accomodating Others

We'll have limited capacity & if those who are sick or susceptible stay home, we should be able to accommodate those who are healthy & able to come.

Looking to Interests of Others

Join us as we seek to “look not only to [our] own interests, but to the interests of others” and “have the mind of Christ.” (Philippians 2:4-11)

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

Let me know!

Contact