Dear Members of the Midwestern Seminary & Spurgeon College Community
I write today to bring you a brief word of update on the Coronavirus, or, COVID-19, to inform you of current institutional policies and plans, and to encourage us forward together as we continue to monitor and respond to this evolving health challenge.
First, at this point all campus activities, including seminars and classes, are planned to meet as scheduled. In that the presence and impact of COVID-19 is varying region to region, entities and institutions, Southern Baptist or otherwise, are of necessity customizing their responses. We continue to do the same and will communicate in a timely manner as circumstances change. Yet, unless you hear otherwise from Midwestern Seminary officials, you should continue to fulfill your work and student responsibilities accordingly.
Thankfully, Kansas City heretofore has experienced minimal exposure to the Coronavirus. Kansas City-area health officials have not suggested restricting public activities at this point. Other community activities are continuing as scheduled as well. However, this can, of course, change quickly.
As for us, we continue to follow counsel from the Center for Disease Control, the United States State Department, and appropriate national, regional, and local health officials. We also remain in close dialog with our Southern Baptist ministry partners. All of this helps to inform our decision making, but, again, the most important circumstances are the facts on the ground in Kansas City, and, more specifically, on campus.
In that the COVID-19 is spread through person-to-person contact, we are asking those of you in our community to practice good hygiene habits including handwashing, avoiding touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands, and covering your mouth with a tissue or sleeve when coughing or sneezing.
Please refrain from traveling to Level 2 or Level 3 countries. As of today, those countries are China, Iran, Italy, Japan, and South Korea. If you have current plans to travel to these regions, please re-work those plans. As to ministry and mission trips, including Fusion’s planned summer deployments, we continue to monitor the feasibility of these trips. We’re in dialogue with ministry partners such as the International Mission Board and will communicate accordingly if and when these trips are impacted.
If you have traveled to Kansas City from or through a Level 3 region as currently defined by the Centers for Disease Control, do NOT come to campus. Additionally, as is the current best practice, we require a quarantine for 14 days to ensure you are not currently carrying the virus. If you live or travel through one of the Level 3 countries to come to campus for an event, class, or seminar, please reach out to your professors for an accommodation plan.
In the event wisdom necessitates we alter institutional plans, we will communicate in a clear and timely matter. Ongoing updates will be posted at mbts.edu/coronavirus. Also, if you have specific concerns or questions, students can email professors while employees can reach out to their supervisors. You can also email coronavirus@mbts.edu should there be broader concerns, questions, or extenuating circumstances.
Finally, I encourage you to frame all of this with biblical wisdom. As men and women of God, we are to be wise, but not fearful; vigilant, but not unnerved. We trust in our sovereign God, his kind providence, and the power of prayer.
Moreover, this is a time for a Christian community, such as Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College, to radiate gospel hope, fervent prayer, and a confidence in our Redeemer.
