March 6, 2020 Precautions Regarding Coronavirus “Be prepared, and prepare for yourself, you and all your company that are assembled with you, and be a guard for them.” -Ezekiel 38:7 As the United States is in the midst of flu season and the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus), here are some important precautions and steps that you and our congregation can take. Personal Actions:

• Stay home if sick or have been exposed to others who are sick. If you have been instructed by a medical professional, supervisor, or school official to stay home, please refrain from attending church as well. • If you have traveled to an area where there has been a coronavirus outbreak, please follow the CDC’s guidelines for self-quarantine. • Wash hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water or an alcohol-based sanitizer (containing at least 60% alcohol). CDC guidelines state that soap and water are the most effective at killing viruses, including the flu and coronavirus. The restrooms and kitchen are well-stocked with soap and hot water, and hand sanitizers are located at the three entrances to the church (in the Narthex by the red vinyl doors and in the safe room before entering the church from the Parish Hallway), across from the restrooms in the Parish Hall, and mounted over the sink in the kitchen. • Cough and sneeze into a tissue or your elbow (instead of your hands). Worship Rituals

• Exchanging the Peace: during the worship service, please show restraint during this season. Consider avoiding shaking hands, hugging or kissing; instead, you may slightly bow with your hands in prayer toward one another, raise your hand, or pat someone on the back or shoulder. Sharing Communion The following message from the Christ Church Liturgists was crafted with guidance from the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s message on taking precautions to keep people attending services safe.

In the spirit of preparedness and following public health guidance, we will be observing the following practices during the Eucharist.

1. Regarding the washing of hands: you will notice the celebrants, liturgists, and others administering the Eucharist, will be following a three-step hand cleaning process in the coming weeks to ensure no transmission of the virus in the handling of the bread and chalice: 1. Apply hand sanitizer (gell in/gell-out) 2. Wash hands with soap and water 3. Rinse hands with clean water and towel dry.

2. Regarding the Common Cup and Intinction (i.e. Dipping Bread into Communion Wine): According to the CDC, there is no current evidence that drinking from a common communion cup has ever transmitted infectious diseases. (See Study Citation below) The same is not necessarily true for chalices bearing grape juice instead of wine. Evidence has shown, however, that intinction -- dipping the bread into the wine-- transmits more germs/microbes/viruses than drinking wine from a chalice. Therefore, we will follow Bishop Mariann’s request that all congregations refrain immediately from dipping the bread into the chalice for the duration of this threat. Parents, please tell your children to refrain from dipping their bread at this time.

For the time being, CCWP asks all who partake of communion to choose one of the following practices:

1. You may receive the bread, and then drink the wine directly from the chalice. 2. If you are not comfortable drinking the wine from the common cup, you may receive the bread alone, and simply cross your arms when the chalice bearer comes to you, or you may touch the base of the chalice as a symbol of receiving the wine.

Though you may miss the wine, you will still receive the full benefit of the Eucharist. The Episcopal Church, along with the Roman and Orthodox Churches, believes that parishioners “receive all of the sacrament” even when taking the bread alone.

NOTE: The Centers for Disease Control reported in 1998 that “no documented transmission of any infectious disease has ever been traced to the use of a common communion cup,” according to a statement in the American Journal of Infection Control (Vol. 26, No. 5, 1998). It added, “a theoretic risk of transmitting infectious diseases by using a common communion cup exists, but that the risk is so small that it is undetectable.”

Updated information will be shared via email and website with the Christ Church + Washington Parish community if an outbreak necessitates further action.

The National Cathedral offers live webcasts every Sunday for the 9am, 11:15am and 4pm services on YouTube and Facebook Live. All webcast services are archived on the Cathedral YouTube site (search Washington National Cathedral) and are available for viewing at any time.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Rev. Rick at [email protected] or 202-547- 9300.