Dear youth parents and winter retreat volunteers:

I have unfortunate news to report, so I'll go straight to that first. As of today we have confirmed that at least one PHUMC youth has tested positive for COVID-19. This is in addition to contact they had at camp on Sunday with a (masked) non-youth who has now tested positive. I too have begun to feel under the weather as the day has progressed while awaiting the results from a PCR test in the now all too familiar backlog. In accordance with the policy put in place by our Leadership Team in August as well as the honest realization that a high percentage of our active students attended the retreat and likely could be at home, we will not be having youth Sunday School or Engage (Sunday PM) activities on January 23. As a reminder, the CDC recommends that those who've been exposed, are asymptotic, and are boosted or received their second dose within the last 6 months wear a mask around others for 10 days and get tested on the 5th day. If you're past the 6 month line or become symptomatic, it's time to get tested and stay home while knowing that early rapid tests can be negative in vaccinated individuals due to it working strongly enough to lower the viral count. 

The retreat itself was an incredibly powerful and lifegiving 48 hours in the midst of an upside-down season. In addition to the important fun and recreation, I can honestly say I had the privilege this weekend of witnessing the strongest vulnerability and transformation of any point during my career of working with teens and college students in various capacities. What's more impressive is that rather than being a "camp high" seemingly out of nowhere, it is instead a key moment which fits in the wider trajectory of where we've been trending. My prayer is that this unhappy news will not impede what is going on in our (thankfully vaccinated, and in many cases also boosted) ministry. If you have any needs over the next few days, please contact the church office or myself directly. In the meantime, I hope you'll take a moment to talk to those in your family who atteneded the retreat about what they experienced; based on the resolve they expressed, I believe we'll all be hearing about it eventually. 

 -Geoff