19 March 2020

People in leadership in the Uniting Church Synod of NSW and ACT

Yesterday you received a letter from the Synod and Presbyteries regarding the decision to ask congregations to suspend services to further protect some of the most vulnerable in our communities.

It is important to note at this time, Uniting Church facilities are the base for activities including; emergency relief, food banks and some services provided by Uniting who support 90,000 people across the community each year. The services are relied upon by some of our most vulnerable people in our communities. Uniting continues to serve the most disadvantaged who will be more affected at this time. Often those service are located in facilities that are shared with congregations.

You will see in the letter from the Moderator yesterday, Churches are asked to now review their activities and if continuing to operate, that you do so under the guidance of the NSW Health, Department of Health and Department of Education directives.

A significant number of congregations have asked for a copy of our Infection Control Protocols. The protocols will be available tomorrow for download on the Synod website, and will be emailed to those who have requested.

We acknowledge that this is a rapidly changing situation and will continue to monitor in days and weeks to come and keep you up to date.

Rev. Jane Fry                     Rev. Simon Hansford 

General Secretary               Moderator