C.A.P. (Coronavirus Action Plan)

The following is a comprehensive plan of action that the Administrative Team of Piney Grove Baptist Church will initiate in response to the continued spread of the coronavirus. 

Precautionary Plan 

• Discontinue fellowship period during service.
• Discontinue ‘Hugs & Love’ ministry.
• Encourage members to ‘fist-bump’ or give ‘elbow-love’ as the new gesture of love & reception.  
• Establish 8-10 ‘sanitation stations’ throughout the church for worshippers to use.  
• Encourage all members & visitors who feel ill for any reason to stay home until illness subsides.
• Make limited supply of face mask available ONLY for those who maybe sick or have a consistent cough.
• Upgrade cleaning tools & supplies to include commercial sanitizing equipment, & cleaning only with anti-bacterial/anti-virus type solutions. 
• Keep handwashing soap amply supplied in all restrooms. 
• Urge all members & visitors to thoroughly wash their hands or use an alcohol-based sanitizer. Frequent hand washing is porbabaly the most effective ways to prevent contamination. DO NOT put your hands in your eyes to scratch them, or in your mouth or on your food WITHOUT hand-washing first.
• Urge all members to sanitize surfaces at home & in the public where possible. Reserach shows that the coronavirus CAN LIVE on surfaces for up to 5 DAYS! Lysol & sanitation wipes are effective ONLY IF YOU USE AS DESCRIBED. Just spraying and wiping DOES NOT KILL THE VIRUS! FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS. Also, if supplies are out, bleach (no matter what brand) and water is 99.9% effective in killing the virus as well.
• BE ARMED with FACTS, not FEAR! Young adults, teens, & children are the least effected by this virus (though they still need to be careful not to contract it and further its spread to others). 80% of those who do contract it will experience mild to flu like symptoms. A small percentage will contract the virus and never even know they had it! However, for those who are 65+, those with respiratory problems, & those with pre-existing conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, heart problems and such, this virus could prove fatal! And for our fellowmen who fall into this category, it is vital for you to stay out of large crowds, be overy cautions, AND for the rest of us with stronger immune systems to protect THEM by not putting ourselves in a position where we can contract this virus and pass it to them.      
• Sanitize church van after each use.
• Sanitize all classrooms, nursery rooms, restrooms, & other meeting spaces regularly. 
• Encourage all members who are currently not using our E-giving system to register their addresses & emails, and opt-in to the text messaging service so that they can receive real-time news, information, & announcements concerning the church.
• Encourage all members to join the official Piney Grove Facebook page: PINEY GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH as an additional medium of communication, & for access to live streaming privileges.
• Establish a ‘Grab-&-Go’ system for the food pantry ministry on Tuesdays.
• Encourage social distancing (stay 4-6ft away from others when out in the public when & where possible)
• Go to 1-HOUR worship service format for both services BEGINNING 1st SUNDAY IN MAY.
• Be flexible
• Pray

We pray that God heals our land according to II Chronicles 7:14; however, due to the fact that we are subject to His sovereign will and timing, the Admin Team of Piney Grove has devised a multi-level response plan to the probable likelihood that this virus will resist our efforts to contain it, as it has already globally demonstrated. This plan will be triggered if one of following three (3) things happen:

1. Governor Ralph Northam declares a state of emergency due to the Coronavirus.
2. Local officials in the Hampton Roads area initiate school closings.
3. The CDC raises our local threat level from the Watch Level (Practice usual precautions), to either the Alert Level (Practice enhanced precautions) or the Warning Level (Avoid non-essential travel).

Level 1 Action plan 

• ALL regular scheduled meetings during the week will be canceled. NO MEETINGS of ANY KIND for ANY REASON will be permitted, with exception given to the Pastor and/or the administrative staff at their discretion.
• Ministry leaders are encouraged to utilize freeconferencecall.com and establish a free conference line to meet via phone with ministry volunteers. 
• ALL ministry functions in which service the community will be discontinued indefinitely. 
• ALL church-wide gatherings and/or extra-curricular church activities will be postponed or canceled.
• Home communion will be discontinued indefinitely. 
• Visitations will no longer be conducted in person if at all possible, but will rather be conducted via phone call.
• Sunday service (7:45a & 11a) will be THE ONLY permitted gathering.
• Sunday Services (7:45a & 11a) will immediately go to a 1-hour worship format until further notice.
• Congregants are encouraged to feel safe at worship! As long as we all respect this virus, wash our hands, provide more social distancing than we normally provide, take heed to all precautions with Christian integrity, we can all worship God in peace and with assurance. 
• Be flexible; things can change & will change quickly
• Pray 

   
In the event someone among this body of worshippers become sick with the coronavirus, or a ban against gatherings is issued  on a local or national level, the Admin Team will advance our church response to the next level. 

Level 2 Action Plan **As of March 16th, we are here** (every applicable prohibition in level 1 applies)

• Contact CDC and other mandated local personnel for directions & guidance.  
• Protect the name of those directly impacted from all sources expect the CDC and other related sources. 
• Notify all members of the case & advise those who attended the service or functions the infected person attended to observe the 14-day self-quarantine.
• Contact local company for sanitation services for the church.    
• No gatherings at the church unless authorized. 
• Sunday Service will be canceled; please join the official church FB page at 10am for a live streaming word from our Pastor!
• The telephone voice recording, church website, official Facebook page, Instagram account, Egiving mass communication system, emails, & phone calls will be used to communicate to the church body when we are no longer at a level 2 response.  
• Pray

NOTE: If there are any members of Piney Grove who are without necessities such as food, water, toilet paper etc, please email or call the church. We are currently working to create a "Piney Grove Share-system" where members can donate requested items to share with those among us who are without & are in need.

Again, we have faith that Jehovah-Rapha (i.e. God Heals) will heal our land and alleviate humanity of this dangerous virus that is temporarily interfering with our natural lives. However, we know that for the true people of God, things like this only serve to fuel our spiritual lives, because adversity only drives us to prayer and it only activates a greater mindfulness of our reliance on God. Though we are planning to be proactive in the area of caution in which we naturally proceed with this, let it not obscure the complete trust we have in God. With that being said, let us remember to pray for our fellow brothers & sisters of humanity all over the world, and for our leaders who serve as the front line of defense, leadership, & resolution when it comes to this pandemic we now globally face.    

**Please check this plan daily for regular updates & changes.