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Beloved Brethren:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Greetings in the matchless name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. \u00a0The\u00a0past few months\u00a0have been a season of great difficulty for our nation and our world. The United States has endured several viral pandemics in the previous 100 years. Still, there has never been a time when a viral illness has wrought such a profoundly negative impact on our communities\u00a0as COVID-19, the Coronavirus.<\/p>\n The Church of God in Christ family has been no exception.\u00a0 Bishops, Superintendents, Pastors, and lay members have succumbed to this disease, leaving their families and churches devastated by their untimely passing.<\/p>\n As the Presiding Bishop, I am joined by the General Board, as well as the physicians and scientists who comprise the COGIC COVID-19 Advisory Commission in providing the recommendation contained in this letter. \u00a0We can fully assure you of the appropriateness of the current directives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).\u00a0 They admonish us to stay home and to wear appropriate face coverings\u00a0and engage in social distancing if we absolutely\u00a0must go out.<\/p>\n The directives of the CDC and NIAID have proven to diminish the impact of the diseaseand prevent its further spread and loss of life. \u00a0For this reason, state and local governments have\u00a0concurred and issued mandatory stay-at-home orders and\u00a0prohibition of gatherings.\u00a0 These directives included church services.\u00a0\u00a0Several states have decided to relax restrictions and permit regular activities in defiance of these recommendations. These premature\u00a0re-openings\u00a0will once again put tens of thousands of our COGIC saints in harm’s way.<\/p>\n We urge you, our pastors, to adhere to the recommendations of the CDC and NIAID and to refrain from\u00a0prematurely opening your churches and congregating in your\u00a0buildings before we have credible and substantiated evidence that it is safe to\u00a0do\u00a0so.\u00a0 In addition, we urge you to\u00a0establish\u00a0a\u00a0protocol to safely reopen\u00a0your church to\u00a0prevent any risk to the health and safety of our members and communities at large before<\/em> you reopen your churches.<\/p>\n The nation’s top scientific and medical experts, in addition to religious and community leaders, have been very transparent in communicating America’s need for\u00a0people\u00a0to refrain from gathering in large numbers. \u00a0They\u00a0have recommended\u00a0social\u00a0isolation and masking. \u00a0To their credit, the experts have admitted that the health disparity\u00a0in our country\u00a0has resulted in significantly more deaths in people of color from the Coronavirus than deaths of whites.<\/p>\n Centuries of social and economic inequality most likely have caused Black Americans to suffer additional consequences of the Coronavirus pandemic, increasing the vulnerability of our COGIC members and worshipers. \u00a0If we are to return to a semblance of the glorious church that we love, we must accept \u2013 follow \u2013 the recommendation of the experts and continue to engage in social distancing, isolation, and masking.<\/p>\n The CDC and the NIAID have developed mathematical models to monitor the number of\u00a0newly\u00a0confirmed cases and deaths\u00a0resulting from the\u00a0virus.\u00a0They\u00a0have used\u00a0these models to track the pattern of sickness and death. \u00a0The data will help them determine when containment has been achieved and when it is safe to resume public gatherings, including church services and other religious activities.<\/p>\n To date, there is a consensus between these two organizations that containment has not been\u00a0achieved\u00a0in the United States.\u00a0The number of new cases and deaths continues to increase. Based on the data available to them, the CDC and NIAID recommend that the present precautionary measures remain in place.\u00a0 We agree and caution pastors to delay re-opening churches at least through the end of June, if not later. \u00a0Even when regular activity\u00a0is allowed to\u00a0resume, it\u00a0must\u00a0be done cautiously and methodically in phases.<\/p>\n Again, we implore you,\u00a0our pastors, to adhere to the recommendations of the CDC and NIAID. \u00a0 Negative consequences, including possibly more deaths\u00a0could occur as a result of unadvised and premature resumption of\u00a0church services and other religious gatherings\u00a0that defy the current public health recommendations.<\/p>\n Stated plainly, we firmly believe that even though stay-at-home orders are being lifted, the COGIC churches should not be among the first churches to reopen. \u00a0The reopening of our COGIC churches should not begin at the present time and should only be done when it is deemed safe to do so. \u00a0COGIC\u00a0pastors and\u00a0members should follow evidence based guidelines from bodies such as the CDC, NIAID, state and local departments of health, and the COVID-19 Advisory panel of the COGIC and wait until it is safe<\/em> to hold services.<\/p>\n For those pastors who must open their doors, we encourage you to follow guidelines issued by the CDC which are accessible in this link https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/php\/faith-based.html<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”22px”]