A Pastoral Message from Bishop Ignatius Osamu Irie

Response to re-spread of virus infection

✟ I pray for the peace of the Lord.

The number of new virus infections began to decline in May. However, in July, the number of infected people started to increase again and exceeded the number of infected people in April. In particular, the average number of newly infected people nationwide in the past week exceeded 1,300 per day, and on the 6th, Kanagawa. With 119 people in the prefecture and 76 people in Chiba prefecture, the highest number of infections in a day has been reported, and it is thought that the infection is spreading throughout the city. Therefore, please check the "Worship Guidelines (Revised Edition)" (May 25th ) distributed in May once again, and continue to disseminate and thoroughly inform them.

Looking at the average number of newly infected people per 100,000 population per week until August 6 in the four prefectures of the Parish of Yokohama, Shizuoka prefecture doubled to 2.55 people compared to 5.99 people in Chiba prefecture. Due to the above differences, there are large regional differences in determining the suspension of worship uniformly throughout the parish, and we believe that it will be necessary to make decisions for each church (or region) in the future, and we will respect that decision. I would like to visit you.

Therefore, please take the following actions.

When the pastor (administrative pastor) and the church committee consider whether to worship on Sundays and weekdays (including holy days) based on the situation of each church (or region) and decide that it is necessary to take a rest. Please make an offer to the parish bishop. In some circumstances, the diocesan bishop may request a resumption of worship for the entire parish or for each church (or region).

If you have a fever or cough of 37.5 ° or higher for more than 2 days, please refrain from attending the service just in case. In addition to that, if you come to the church by public transportation , especially those who are in the Kanagawa and northwestern areas of Chiba prefecture, which are adjacent to Tokyo, and those who have a disease or are elderly. Please do not overdo it from the viewpoint of infection prevention, and consider measures to prevent infection again, including using the special treatment of the Lord's Day at home, reading the Bible daily routine, and offering morning worship services. Thank you.

If an infected person is found among the minister and his family and worship attendees, he / she will suspend all worship and meetings in the church for at least two weeks to prevent further spread of the infection and become a parish bishop. Please report immediately.

Due to the convergence of the spread of such virus infection, those who have been infected, those who are engaged in medical care, those who are facing various health and financial difficulties and confusion, and the heavy rain in July. We pray for the healing and comfort, encouragement and protection, and blessings of the Lord, remembering those affected by the disaster.

August 7, 2020

+Bishop Ignatius Yokohama

This is an automatically generated translation from Japanese.

Yokohama Christ Church

Yokohama Christ Church

A Pastoral Message from Bishop Ignatius Osamu Irie

Response to re-spread of virus infection