Click on the buttons to read more
LATEST NOTICE
UPDATE ON DECENTRALISATION OF 14/15 MARCH WEEKEND SERVICES
13 March 2020
In light of the evolving situation and the latest advisory from the government, Heart of God Church will continue to decentralise our services this weekend (14 & 15 March).
We will not be closing church or cancelling/suspending services. Instead, we will continue to meet in small groups to watch online services.
Read the full details on the decentralisation of our church services here.
Stay updated
We will keep the church updated through the various communication channels on further developments. If you have questions, please email [email protected].
DECENTRALISATION OF CHURCH SERVICES
16 February 2020
In light of the evolving COVID-19 situation, Heart of God Church will be decentralising our services over the next 3 weekends (22/23 Feb, 29 Feb/1 Mar, 7/8 Mar).
We will not be closing church or cancelling/suspending services. Instead, we will be having small-group gatherings to watch online services as we usually do during the annual Chinese New Year break. Our next church service will be held on 14/15 March.
While there are no suspected or confirmed cases in Heart of God Church, decentralising church services preemptively allows us to stress-test our contingency plans in the event where the situation escalates and all gatherings are no longer possible.
WHY DECENTRALISE CHURCH?
1. PROTECT our young people
Heart of God Church has many young people and their well-being is our priority. By decentralising services, we want to protect our young people. As school classes are continuing, we take reference from the Ministry of Education by keeping our gatherings to class size.
We will continue with health and safety measures, including health and travel declarations, on-site temperature checks, and disinfecting of premises (read our COVID-19 Precautionary Measures here).
We will not be having Children’s Church services while we decentralise our main services.
2. PEACE OF MIND for parents and families
Besides protecting our youth, we care about the peace of mind of parents and families of our members.
We recognise that their parents and families could have heightened attention and concern over large-scale church gatherings, due to recent news reports on COVID-19 cases linked to church clusters.
Moving forward, we will assess the situation and consider parents’ and families' sentiments in resuming our weekend services.
3. SERVE our community
It takes close to 500 volunteers to run our weekend services. By decentralising services, we free up volunteers to serve the community. For example, Heart of God Church volunteers recently spearheaded the Heart For Our Heroes initiative. The church will continue to partner with various organisations to run community initiatives during this season.
“This is not the time for us to be insulated and isolated within our four walls. Now is the time for us to step out to serve our community.” - Pastor Tan Seow How
4. SUSTAINABILITY
In a meeting with Ministers Gan Kim Yong (MOH) and Grace Fu (MCCY) attended by our senior pastors, the ministers advised that normal church services may still continue with the appropriate precautionary measures. The key was to find a sustainable solution should the COVID-19 situation persist.
As cancelling services indefinitely is not a practical option, we have adopted a more sustainable approach of decentralising church services and may continue regular weekend services 1-2 times a month.
Furthermore, having decentralised services in small groups is a way of ring-fencing the congregation. In a scenario of infection, contacts can be easily traced and the whole church need not be affected by disruptions and inconveniences.
Stay updated
We will keep the church updated through the various communication channels on any further developments. If you have questions, please email [email protected].
Let’s continue to pray for those who are unwell, our healthcare professionals on the front lines, and that this virus will be contained soon. Meanwhile, as a church let’s not insulate or isolate ourselves. Let’s continue to show compassion, give encouragement and serve our community.
Related Stories
Featured
COVID-19 PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES [UPDATED]
7 February 2020
(Updated on 19 March 2020)
In view of the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, Heart of God Church will be taking the following health and safety measures for our services and activities.
Here’s a summary video of our precautionary measures, full details below.
1. Precautionary Measures
[Updated on 21 March 2020: Precautionary measures now apply to anyone returning / in close contact with travellers from ANY countries.]
In line with the Ministry of Health’s advisory and HOGC guidelines, please do not attend church services or activities if:
| a) You and/or your children have travelled overseas to ANY countries in the past 14 days and/or have been issued a Stay Home Notice by the Singapore government. | No participation in church services / activities for 14 days from the day of return or until Stay Home Notice has ended (whichever is later). |
|
b) You and/or your children have had close contact* with someone who has been issued a Stay Home Notice by the Singapore government because of travel to ANY countries in the past 14 days.
*Close contact is defined as having spent 30 minutes with a person within a 2-metre radius. |
No participation in church services / activities for 14 days from the day of last contact or until Stay Home Notice has ended (whichever is earlier). |
|
c) You and/or your children have had close contact with any suspected*/confirmed COVID-19 cases and/or someone under Quarantine Order in the last 14 days.
*Suspected COVID-19 case = someone whose COVID-19 swab result is still pending. Someone whose swab result is negative is not considered to be a suspected COVID-19 case. |
No participation in church services / activities for 14 days from the day of last contact, or until the Quarantine Order has ended (whichever is earlier). |
| d) You and/or your children feel unwell or experience any / are on medical leave for flu-like symptoms (fever, sore throat, cough, runny nose and shortness of breath). Please seek medical attention immediately and take time to rest and fully recuperate at home. | No participation in church services / activities until symptoms have resolved and medical leave has ended (whichever is later). |
2. Temperature and Health Checks
a) Before entry into service
Temperature and Health checks will be conducted for everyone before entry into our church services. If you are found to have a fever, other flu-like symptoms or seem unwell, you will be asked to go home to rest. We thank you for your understanding.
Prior to attending service, all church members will be required to fill in a declaration form which will include questions on travel and recent contact history as well as current state of health.
b) During service
Should you feel unwell during the church service, please approach our volunteers stationed at the Assistance Booth in the Level 4 atrium. There will be doctors and healthcare professionals stationed at the booth who can provide any assistance required.
3. Enhanced Safety Measures for Children
In line with the measures adopted by the Ministry of Education, we will replace the usual HeartKidz services (for 7 to 12-year-olds) with small-group programmes held at the same time and venue.
We will be conducting health checks for all children upon arrival in HeartKidz. If your child has a fever or any other flu-like symptoms, they will be asked to go home and rest, and seek medical attention. We seek the cooperation of parents in keeping your children who are unwell at home until they recover.
We will also be conducting health checks for HeartTots and Baby Space (for 0 to 6-year-olds).
As a precaution, we will also be collating information from parents on you and your children’s travel history and current state of health prior to the weekend. In addition, premises used for the children's programmes will be disinfected regularly.
4. Enhanced Safety of Church Premises
There will be enhanced sanitisation of church premises with all spaces disinfected regularly.
Hand sanitisers will be provided at common areas. Points of frequent contact, such as elevator buttons and door handles, will also be sterilised often.
5. Suspension of Mass Youth Activities
In line with the Ministry of Health’s advisory, with effect from 5 February 2020, we will be taking measures to reduce large group and communal activities involving the youths in our church. For example, the LEAP youth event at SCAPE scheduled for the 29 February 2020 will be postponed until further notice.
We will continue to watch the situation closely and where necessary, implement additional measures to reduce mass gatherings to safeguard the health of our youth.
6. Conclusion
We seek your cooperation and support by adhering to the measures above.
We are monitoring the situation closely and we will continue to review the measures as the situation evolves for the health and safety of our congregation. We will keep the church updated through the various channels (text message, social media, website and our Telegram channel) on any further developments.
Let’s continue to pray for our church and community, and those working at the frontlines to treat the sick and protect the public!
About the HOGC COVID-19 Safety Task Force
The above measures are advised by HOGC’s COVID-19 Safety Task Force, consisting of doctors, healthcare professionals and crisis management specialists, including a professor who is a leading expert in the field of public health.
If you have any questions, you can email [email protected].