United Church of God

Updates from the Home Office: May 14, 2020

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Updates from the Home Office

May 14, 2020

From Peter Eddington, Media and Communication Services

Peter Eddington updated the home office staff on proceedings from the annual meeting of the General Conference of Elders and also on the Council of Elders meetings—which were both held just over a week ago.

Receptionist Chelsea Meidinger is back in the office full time. Employees have their temperature taken by Mrs. Meidinger if they were not able to do so before leaving home. Employees must stay home if they have any symptoms of illness. Employees able to work from home should continue to do so to help limit exposure for those who must come into the office.

Up until now we have been able to offer some complimentary hours to those employees who could not work their full hours from home. However, we are now bringing everyone back up to their normal work schedules and providing accommodation at the office to help them complete all projects and work a full week—while maintaining prescribed distance and sanitized workstations.

Employees are encouraged to talk with their supervisor if any special accommodations are needed. All employees need to follow the necessary health precautions as more people start coming into the home office. Please wear a mask in public areas and keep your hands sanitized.

Beyond Today TV recordings will be produced on Wednesday with three new programs. To keep everyone safe there will be a minimum technical crew, no studio audience, masks will be worn, and there will be a limit of two persons in the green room at a time, etc.

From Mark Welch, Ministerial and Member Services

Mark Welch mentioned that the 10 goals he has established for MMS were presented during the GCE meeting and reproduced in last week's eNews. We are all a part of MMS and should work together to reach many of those goals. Another meeting with pastors was scheduled for Tuesday to discuss the complexities of safely returning to services. Church pastors will be working on updating their member files in the next few months. We will be following our "Go, No-Go" dates that were established some weeks ago for those teen and preteen camps that have not already canceled. It is not looking very promising for conducting camps at the present time, but if things change drastically, it could be possible to hold camps scheduled for late summer. We wouldn't want any of the campers to bring COVID-19 back home to their families.

From Richard Kennebeck, Information Technology and Building Safety

Richard Kennebeck explained that we want to provide a safe environment for those employees whose work needs to be done at the home office. If an employee can perform 90% of his or her work at home with reasonable accommodation, then they are encouraged to stay at home. Employees should work with their supervisors, determine the needs, and work out the best plan for what needs to be done.

We feel that we can accommodate everyone who needs to be at the office. Before coming into the home office, employees must perform a health self-assessment. There is a thermometer at the front desk and disposable masks if needed. Regarding masks, they are being worn as a way to protect others.

From Charles Melear, Conference Planner

Member registration numbers for the Feast of Tabernacles are strong and actually higher than last year at this time. Over the next four months or so, we will continue to review the conditions.

Any changes to "all sites are open" will bring about an immediate announcement. Please do not contact individual Feast Coordinators with questions about whether a site will be open or cancelled at this time. Conditions are fluid and constantly changing. The next scheduled update for the Feast of Tabernacles will be the Sabbath of July 11. That will still provide nearly 3 months advance planning and consideration before the Feast.

From Frank Dunkle, ABC Coordinator

Ambassador Bible College will hold an online, virtual graduation ceremony for the Class of 2020 this Sunday, May 17 at 1:00 p.m. The link will be open starting at 12:45 p.m. Anyone who is interested may watch and listen to the ceremony by following this link in their computer browser: http://abc.ucg.org/webcast/graduation-2020. It can also be found by going to the ABC web page: abc.ucg.org, looking in the section listing "events," and clicking on the link there. Ariana Del Signore has been helping compile student photos, which will appear as students virtually "walk across the stage." The "graduation dinner" will be delivered to students at their homes this Thursday night by faculty and staff members.

From Rick Shabi, Treasurer

Rick Shabi reported that income continues to remain strong through the first 10 days of May. Offerings for the Unleavened Bread holy days continue to come in. So far, we have not seen any negative impact on income as a result of the crisis the nation is in. God has been watching over and providing for us.