wfn.org | CRC Asks Churches to Prepare for Flu

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> CRC Asks Churches to Prepare for Flu

April 30, 2009 -- The Christian Reformed Church in North America is asking its congregations in the United States and Canada to draw up plans on how to respond to the growing threat of a swine flu pandemic.

?Each congregation is different and, as a result, each church must develop a unique Pandemic Response Plan based on the needs of its congregation,? says a letter sent to church councils by the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee.

The first job of a congregation is to sift through resources on how to deal with outbreaks of influenza. Resources are available at www.crwrc.org/pandemic.

In the U.S., President Barack Obama pledged on Wednesday that the country will use "great vigilance" in confronting the flu outbreak, which has hit 11 states and closed schools amid confirmation of the first U.S. death, according to news accounts.

Meanwhile, the Geneva-based World Health Organization, a United Nations agency, has raised its alert level to one notch below a full-fledged global pandemic.

Canada has reported its first confirmed cases of the flu at opposite ends of the country, including two in the western province of British Columbia and four in the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia, say news reports. Health officials in both provinces said all the cases involved only mild illness.

Canadian health officials are urging people to take precautions such as frequent hand washing and said they would take whatever actions are necessary to protect the  public.

For the past five years, CRWRC?s disaster response and rehabilitation team in Canada has been part of a coalition which regularly meets with federal and provincial emergency health authorities to develop contingency plans.

CRWRC has also taken the lead in establishing a Pandemic Preparedness Committee which brings together people from different roles within the CRC.

The CRWRC website on pandemic preparedness addresses such issues as:

·          Where you can get basic information on pandemic influenza.

·          How your congregation can identify physical assets (e.g. buildings, kitchen

facilities, etc) that may be helpful during a pandemic response.

·          How can you network with your local authorities and other churches to reach out.

·          How you can conduct worship services if you are not able to meet as a congregation.

·          How will the church survive financially if members are impacted economically and services cannot be  held?

·          How can sacramental practices be modified to prevent the spread of influenza?

·          How can you care for the vulnerable members of your  congregations?

·          What unique needs will the vulnerable have during a pandemic?

?We all pray that our Lord, in His grace, may spare us from the devastation of a pandemic.  Considering the implications, however, it would be prudent to prepare. The time to plan is now, before an outbreak occurs,? said CRC officials in their letter.

For information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, visit:

> http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/.

In Canada, the Health Ministry offers information through this site:

> http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/index-eng.php.

> --Chris Meehan, CRC Communications

> -- Chris Meehan
> News & Media Director
> Christian Reformed Church in North America
> 1-616-224-0849