As a member of an Inspire fellowship I commit to:
- Pursue a life of missional discipleship; abiding deeply with God and living missionally in the world.
- The core values of discipleship: seeking growth, using disciplines, sharing fellowship, and engaging mission.
- Make my fellowship a priority, meet regularly, and pray for my community between gatherings.
- Be honest, receive guidance, share wisdom, and hold confidence.
- Contribute to the rhythms and practices of fellowship, including hospitality and food as guided by the leaders.
- Communicate responsibly with leaders between meetings.
- Watch over my brother and sisters with love.
We choose to watch over one another with love and trust in all aspects of our gatherings and therefore commit to:
- Meet together in person, even if that means adapting how/where we gather.*
- Exercise good hygiene at all times including: removing shoes at the door of homes, using hand sanitiser/washing often, being diligent in food preparation, maintaining good personal hygiene.
- Be ready to share fellowship, food and friendships but NOT sickness! If someone is ill, they can expect us to pray for them, but they will stay at home until they are well.
- Communicate with leaders any matters that concern the whole group in advance of any gathering and before bringing it to the group. This is particularly important with regard to matters of spiritual and/or physical health and wellbeing, including but not limited to:
- If I have a problem or difficulty in the group.
- If I am sick or there is a risk I might be contagious with any infection, including the flu.
- If I have been exposed to someone with COVID-19*; or have traveled out of state/country; or have been with people from out of state/country; or have engaged with people/groups who have not exercised measures to prevent the spread of infection. The purpose of this conversation is to discern whether contact with others beyond our fellowship preserves the commitment to our covenant and local government regulations / recommendations for measures of social distancing and quarantine etc. This is also crucial where members are part of multiple fellowships.
* COVID-19
- We recommend that all group members are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before attending fellowships. Group leaders should be made aware of any reasons why it is not possible for someone to be vaccinated before joining the group so that we can take extra care of them.
- CDC guidelines^ say that:
- Fully vaccinated people who have been in close contact with a person with Covid-19 should wear a mask indoors in groups for 14 days following exposure or until they have a negative covid test. If they do not have symptoms, they should get tested 3-5 days after close contact or confirmed COVID-19. If they are experiencing symptoms, they should get tested immediately.
- “Close contact to COVID-19 occurs when you are within six feet of someone who is showing symptoms of COVID-19, for at least 15 minutes … and the infected person later tests positive for the coronavirus.“
- If a member of any Inspire fellowship, or someone directly connected to them, tests positive for COVID-19 the leader of the group must be contacted immediately, who will help with contact tracing and keeping the whole group informed
- The number gathering in any Inspire group will be in line with current local recommendations. As a general rule we advise groups to not exceed 12-15 members including children over the age of 1 year.
- Fellowships may choose to meet outside or in larger spaces for some meetings to facilitate better social distancing as necessary
- Additional cleaning, food arrangements and/or mask wearing may be implemented in fellowship groups.
- Local travel advisories will be followed by all members of fellowships. We recommend that people who travel out of State/Country wear masks whilst travelling in public places; take a covid test 3-5 days after returning; and exercise social distancing in groups until they have a negative COVID-19 test.
- Where group members attend large gatherings/events outside of the fellowship they will notify the fellowship leaders before retuning to meeting and agree appropriate measures if necessary.
- Fellowships may agree together to limit the number of social circles they engage with outside of the fellowship group, in order to further reduce risk of infections.
^CDC guidelines provide a helpful baseline for our covenant of care. It is important to adhere to local restrictions and recommendations in the State/Region/Country/where you are.
