Dear Ones of St. Columba,

I am writing to you on January 9th, the day before we gather via livestream to celebrate the Baptism of our Lord. We will be baptizing four precious human beings into the household of God tomorrow - all from the same family. It is a wonderful moment of celebration and joy.  

I want you to know why I won't be physically present in the sanctuary for this event. My family and I found out today that my husband Andrew had a COVID-19 exposure this week, during his work as a Respiratory Therapist at Harborview Medical center. He has been asked to quarantine at home for the next several days and out of an abundance of caution I have chosen to follow suit, until I can reasonably be tested and receive a valid negative result. 

Andrew has received the first shot (of two) of the Pfizer vaccine, and he was wearing a mask and face shield during the exposure, which involved a patient who then tested positive the following day. He will follow recommended quarantine procedures in our home - sleeping separately and wearing a mask whenever he is in the shared parts of our home. He will continue to receive full pay while under this quarantine. He has not tested positive for COVID, and we are hopeful he will not. This quarantine is standard procedure for hospital exposures of this type.

You will still see me, as I am still the preacher for tomorrow and will be working from home until I have a negative test. I am still available via email, text, messenger, and zoom. 

I'm proud of my spouse, for all the life saving work he has done the past decade as an RT and the past ten months in this pandemic. My choice to also quarantine is out of an abundance of caution for the health of those being baptized and the wonderful team who gather to make Sunday worship happen each week. I can't wait to be back with them, as soon as possible. I will see you at coffee hour and in Facebook chat during worship until then!

with care and gratitude,

Alissa