Nyob zoo, Grace Hmong Alliance Church Family! We continue to pray for you and your family’s health and stability in this new year. While the COVID-19 pandemic still has a persistent presence throughout Milwaukee County, the GHAC Governance Authority has approved reopening church in several capacities. Please read the entirety of this announcement to understand what is and is not allowed. Good news—we do plan to re-open church starting next Sunday, March 7th, 2021! Please bear in mind, we are still a higher-risk location for COVID-19 transmission, so many precautions will be in place. For those who cannot or do not want to attend in-person yet, we will still have the GHAC Livestream available on our YouTube Channel: http://tinyurl.com/GHACYouTube.
To attend GHAC church service in-person, you can either register online at http://tinyurl.com/GHACSundaySignUp or you may register when you walk into church on Sunday by filling out a brief form. Starting Monday at 9AM each week, Cross Connection will post the registration link on the church website, https://ghalliance.org, and on the GHAC public Facebook page. The registration link will also be sent out through our GHAC mass text service (text “GHAC” to 55469 to receive texts from GHAC-NEW!) and via our private GHAC Congregation WhatsApp group (join here). One person from each household can register their entire household. All we need to know is how many people from your household will be attending that day. Everyone including Pastors, Pastors’ wives, Elders, Elders’ wives, Media team, Worship team, Health Ministry members and all members and guests must be registered by someone in their household so we can maintain an accurate count of who is in the building each Sunday for contract tracing purposes.
All ages are allowed to attend in-person service. In-person attendees must wear a mask at all times. Masks will be provided if you do not have one. Also, no hugging or handshakes at this time. Everyone who attends will be asked to get their temperature taken with a touchless thermometer when they walk Families may sit together in a row but must be spaced out properly from other families and attendees. Capacity in the church sanctuary will be limited to 150 people. Overflow rooms with Sunday service streaming on YouTube will be opened, as needed, starting with the Alliance Men room and then the Youth and Alliance Women rooms. Capacities on those rooms are still to be determined.
Sunday’s schedule will still ONLY be church service—no Sunday School, childcare, Cross Connection Café or other ministries will be in operation before or after service. The men’s and women’s bathrooms and other frequently touched surfaces will be cleaned/wiped down several times throughout Sunday service. Of course, please stay home if you are not feeling well or if you have any symptoms of COVID-19.
Outside of Sunday mornings, all ministries’ leadership committees only are now allowed to meet in-person at church for planning and prayer purposes. Please contact our Bookkeeper, Vaaj Fong Yang, or a Pastor to reserve your room and time—all meetings must be scheduled in advance. You must maintain social distancing, wear masks at all times during these meetings and clean up after yourselves, including removing trash, sanitizing tables and door handles. No ministry gatherings, events or eating food will be allowed, as of now. Care Groups are now allowed to meet at church but cannot bring food to eat. Of course, they may also continue to meet virtually if they so choose.
Regarding the GHAC Youth, we are allowing CrossWalk on Wednesday nights to occur. GHAC Security will be on-site and social distancing and mask-wearing must be followed at all times. Please contact Xf. Ntxoov Fwj Vaj for more information and guidelines. Youth from different households must sit six feet apart at all times with no hugging or shaking hands.
Regarding cleaning of the church, as of now, we no longer have a janitor as Xeev Ntxawg Yaaj has resigned. Therefore, for the first several weeks, the GHAC Pastors, GA members and their wives will take turns to clean the church on Saturdays and Sundays. After that time period, if we still have not hired a janitor, we will ask other ministries, Care Groups and members to take on that responsibility. As always, we encourage you to tithe and donate using the “Tithe/Give Online” button on our website, https://ghalliance.org. We also still encourage our ministries to use Google Meet or Zoom. If you need assistance doing this, please ask your fellow church members.
Also, please post your prayer needs here: http://facebook.com/groups/GHACPrayerNeeds. You can let a Pastor or Elder know if you need any food or supplies during this time by calling or texting Kx. Yauhaas at 262-895-5512, Kx. Nkaajlev at 414-514-5671 or Xf. Ntxoov Fwj at 262-212-6504. We have masks, bags of rice, toilet paper, water and other essential food and household products available.
In the meantime, stay tuned for more virtual fellowship, Bible study and prayer opportunities from our various ministries. The GA recognizes the need to expand our church’s ability to reach and engage members outside of our physical walls both during the pandemic and afterwards.
We will continue to monitor the status of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout Milwaukee and will adjust our reopening protocols accordingly. Let us continue to pray for each other and the entire world as we draw closer to the end of the pandemic—God is in control and may He continue to watch over us all. God Bless!