News
I received two bits of news this week that stood in sharp contrast with one another, and yet, both pointed toward a similar theme. First, I heard from two families in our congregation whose jobs have been either eliminated or dramatically cut back. I listened to the anxiety in their voices as they spoke of the uncertainty their families face in the months ahead. The prospect of losing their homes is real. Yet…
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”
- 1 Corinthians 12:12-13
Dear OSC friends and family,
Again I write to express our sincere hopes and prayers that you are staying sage and healthy at home during this difficult time.
So much has changed in such a short time! We are all getting more accustomed to connecting across our phones, our laptops, and even television screens. It’s so strange for me to speak into the little camera-eye on my iPad every Sunday morning, rather than look you in the eye from the sanctuary stage.
And yet, I am so grateful for the opportunities we have to connect! Seeing your faces during Zoom and FaceTime calls brings me real joy! Seeing your comments during our Facebook live services and your communion-at-home pictures of sourdough bread, goldfish crackers, and other creative eucharist elements reminds me that despite our relative distance, we are still one body in Christ.
Consider that idea: we are one body, joined together across time and space by the Spirit of God.
Earlier this month I wrote to encourage you that despite our relative isolation, we have all been given the grace to remain connected with God despite our circumstances, despite even our doubts. Today I want to push that idea forward and share another truth with you that has been resonating deeply with me during this COVID pandemic. That truth is this:
In 1 Corinthians Chapter 12 we find the Apostle Paul employing one of his favorite metaphors: The church is the body of Christ. Paul loves this metaphor because of the way it encourages us to accept one another and love one another in spite of our differences.
This, by the way, is a particular problem for the followers of Christ living in ancient Corinth. Like all human communities, the Corinthian Christians has developed classes and hierarchies for categorizing one another, and these divisions were sowing frustration, judgement, and injustices in the community.
Paul’s solution is not to organize them into neatly segregated affinity groups (that’s typically what we do in The Modern American Church). Instead, he exhorts them to embrace a wildly diverse and interdependent community, likening our differences to the different “members” of the human body.
“If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.”
- v17-18
Paul goes even further, flatly claiming that this extreme value for differences extends even to those individuals we would rather hide, or set-aside, or forget, saying:
“On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect.”
- v22-23
Finally, Paul dramatically concludes this section with the proclamation that, because of this deep unity in Christ, we have the tremendous advantage of a deep solidarity in difficult times:
“If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.”
- v26
This should sound somewhat familiar, because last week I claimed that when we suffer, God suffers within us. Here Paul is extending that same theodicy from the experience of the individual-in-Christ to the experience of the community-in-Christ.
In other words, our union with God is magnified by our union with each other particularly when that union is based on mutual love, respect, and compassion in the midst of our quibbles, annoyances, and disagreements.
And so, yet again, we find that the strength of God is made present in the midst of our weakness.
During this time of fear and uncertainty, let us not deny our differences or avoid challenging or difficult relationships. Instead, let us embrace each other, encouraging each other, and support each other as best we can, leaning on the Spirit of God to strengthen us as we do.
___________________________________________________
Jason Coker is the Lead Pastor of the Oceanside Sanctuary.
Coronavirus/Covid-19 Resource Guide
OSC family,
We are glad to provide a north county Coronavirus/Covid-19 resource guide to help navigate needs during this crisis.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us for assistance - info@oceansidesanctuary.org
Centers for Disease Control YouTube Page California Department of Public Health
City of Oceanside City of Vista
City of San Marcos City of Encinitas
City of Solana Beach C ity of Carlsbad
Dial 211 to speak to someone. 2-1-1 San Diego is a non-profit operating 24 hours a day, 365 days each year and can take calls in 200+ languages. They will refer you to healthcare, housing, employment, food, mental health, and many more types of assistance. If you like, they will also connect you to a nurse to answer clinical questions about coronavirus, such as symptoms and your best course of action. The 2-1-1 website is also full of information about resources.
San Diego Covid-19 Community Response Fund Individuals or families who experience job loss or pay reductions since March 1 can receive help to pay gas, electric, water, trash, phone and internet bills, as well as rent or mortgage payments.
San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium ha lanzado el fondo de ayuda para inmigrantes afectados por el coronavirus. El fondo ofrece hasta $500 a familias inmigrantes que viven en el condado de San Diego que han perdido todo o parte de sus ingresos debido a la pandemia del coronavirus, así como otras emergencias que seden a futuro. Información aquí.
North County Lifeline, which serves Vista and Oceanside, has an emergency fund to help you with things like rent, groceries, and utility bills.
Interfaith Community Services, which serves North County, has set up an emergency fund.
Feeding San Diego has multiple free food distribution sites in Vista, San Marcos, Oceanside, and Encinitas.
Oceanside senior citizens 60+ may contact Serving Seniors for meal delivery: (760) 435-5285.
City of Vista food for senior citizens.
Free sack lunch at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Vista.
School Districts that are serving free meals list
Restaurant take out and delivery in Vista
Groceries delivered to your home for a fee: instacart
Stores with special shopping hours for senior citizens
Rent
The City of Oceanside placed a temporary ban on residential and commercial evictions. If you will be unable to pay the rent it is important that you follow the directions in the city ordinance. (Be sure to scroll down to read the “revised” ordinance.)
The City of San Marcos placed a temporary ban on residential and commercial evictions. If you will be unable to pay the rent it is important that you follow the directions here.
The governor of California issued an eviction moratorium executive order that applies to the entire state. However, it is not clear if it overrides the moratorium ordinances passed by cities like Oceanside and San Marcos.
The Legal Aid Society of San Diego has a fact sheet to help renters and landlords understand the various city moratoriums and the governor’s order. It also includes a sample letter for renters to use when notifying their landlord that they can’t pay the rent.
You will find other housing resources and help at 2-1-1 San Diego and the San Diego
Covid-19 Community Response Fund.
Mortgage
To get free advice on foreclosure prevention click here or here.
Wells Fargo, US Bank, Citi and JP Morgan Chase will defer mortgage payments for three months. State chartered banks and credit unions will offer similar deferrals. The banks also pledged not to initiate foreclosure sales or evictions for the next 60 days. And they promised not to report late payments to credit reporting agencies.
Bank of America agreed to waive mortgage payments for one month. It will consider delaying payments on a monthly basis that could extend beyond 90 days depending on the length of the crisis.
It’s important to get in touch with your lender immediately if you expect to be late or unable to make your monthly mortgage payment. The worst thing you can do is to not communicate with your lender. There are programs in place for folks who are experiencing hardship.
A mortgage forbearance is an agreement between you and your mortgage servicer that lets you either stop making payments or lower your payments to an affordable level on a temporary basis during your hardship. This can be helpful during times like these when your job isn’t terminated, just suspended indefinitely.
SDG&E (Electric/Gas)
Announced that they will not disconnect service for nonpayment of your bill. If you are having trouble paying your bill, call them at 800-411-7343 to work out a payment plan. Also, for business customers they are waiving late payment fees. (Residential customers never have late payment fees.)
AT&T
As of March 18th and for the next sixty days: has suspended broadband usage caps for home internet customers--there will be no overage fees while people are home using more data. Has internet access for qualifying limited-income households at $10/month through its Access from AT&T program. AT&T will not terminate service of any wireless, home phone or broadband residential or small business customer due to an inability to pay their bill as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. And they are waiving late payment fees for those customers.
Cox
Cox will not terminate service to any residential or small business customer because of an inability to pay their bills due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. And Cox is waiving any late fees that residential or small business customers incur because of their economic circumstances related to the coronavirus pandemic.
City of Oceanside Water
Water utility shut-offs for non-payment are suspended during this emergency declaration time period. Customers may call to discuss deferring a payment: (760) 435-4500.
City of Vista Water (Vista Irrigation District)
The district has no plans to shut-off customers’ water for non-payment of a bill. Call 760-597-3100 to discuss your situation if you are unable to pay your bill.
San Marcos Water (Vallecitos Water District)
The water district is postponing water shutoffs due to late payments until further notice.
City of Encinitas Water
The San Dieguito Water District will not issue late fees or shut off water service for non-payment until further notice. Olivenhain Municipal Water District is postponing water service disconnections for non-payment on a case-by-case basis until further notice.
IMPORTANT! Do not flush disinfecting wipes and paper towels down the toilet. They clog the sewer system. Put those items in the garbage. Only toilet paper should be flushed.
If you lose your health insurance go to Covered California.
Dial 211 to speak to someone. 2-1-1 San Diego is a non-profit operating 24 hours a day, 365 days each year and can take calls in 200+ languages. They will refer you to healthcare, housing, employment, food, mental health, and many more types of assistance. If you like, they will also connect you to a nurse to answer clinical questions about coronavirus, such as symptoms and your best course of action. The 2-1-1 website is also full of information about resources.
The Vista Community Clinic, which serves Oceanside and Vista, will connect you with a nurse if you are worried that you have the coronavirus. Call (760) 407-1434. The clinic also offers many low-cost healthcare services.
North County Health Services, which serves San Marcos, Oceanside, and Encinitas, offers many low-cost healthcare services.
If you can’t leave home for medicine CVS and Walgreens will deliver for free. Also, you may call your local CVS and Walgreens for this service.
Crisis Hotline Free and confidential 24-hour crisis hotline for mental health and substance use disorders staffed by mental health professionals. Find a list of resources here.
Talking with children about coronavirus
Anuncio del US Citizenship and Immigration Services:
“USCIS exhorta a todas aquellas personas, incluidos los extranjeros, que tengan síntomas similares a los del coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) (fiebre, tos, dificultad respiratoria) a buscar el tratamiento médico o servicios de prevención necesarios. Dicho tratamiento médico o servicios de prevención no afectarán negativamente a los extranjeros como parte del análisis futuro de carga pública.” Lea la declaración completa aquí. Tenga en cuenta que, como la regla de carga pública está relacionada con los inmigrantes legales que buscan cambios de estado y/o visas. Esto no es relevante para los inmigrantes indocumentados
The San Diego Union Tribune - Español
Where to begin?
All our lives have changed rapidly and dramatically since California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a State of Emergency on March 12th. As we enter the third week of self-isolation, I am happy to report that most of you are doing well, staying home, staying healthy, and handling the COVID-19 pandemic calmly.
