As we complete 2020 and head into a new year, ACTS Cores are asking about planning retreats in 2021. ACTS Missions continues to recommend retreats be canceled or rescheduled during the pandemic, however, that decision ultimately belongs to the Parish Pastor. Please consult with him as you make your plans.
For ACTS Cores who have Retreat Teams beginning their formation period in anticipation of a 2021 retreat, we offer the following two resources:
- Staying Connected during Quarantine Advice – Team Formation suggestions, and
- Infection Control Guidance for Retreats – To be reviewed by ACTS Core, Retreat Leadership Teams, and your Retreat Center point of contact.
Staying Connected during Quarantine Advice
Our Chapter Management & Education Team have compiled a set of suggestions for Team Formation along with frequently asked questions we have received about this topic. Please review them with your Core and Retreat Team and let us know if you have any questions.
Infection Control Guidance for Retreats
A member of our Board of Directors who is a health professional wrote the IC Guidance and consulted with two infectious disease specialists in San Antonio. The IC Guidance is meant to help the Retreat Leadership Team consider all the elements of an ACTS Retreat from Formation to Pentecost Event and the measures needed to control infection.
All mandatory Archdiocese/Diocese, Parish, federal, state, local, and administrative orders, laws, rules, and ordinances concerning COVID-19 or coronavirus should be followed at all times. ACTS Retreats should not be held if prohibited under any mandatory restrictions. To the extent the guidance herein conflicts with mandatory restrictions, the mandatory restrictions should be followed.
Disclaimer
ACTS Retreats are group events and necessarily carry certain inherent risks related to COVID-19 and coronavirus transmission that cannot be eliminated regardless of the care taken to avoid such risks. Moreover, the prevalence and transmission of COVID-19 and coronavirus in each Diocese and Parish significantly varies and rapidly changes on a day-to-day basis. Therefore, each Parish has the sole and exclusive responsibility for determining whether and how to conduct ACTS Retreats during the time of any COVID-19 and coronavirus transmissions or outbreaks. ACTS Missions shall not be liable or responsible for the guidance herein or for any COVID-19 or coronavirus transmissions or infections arising from or relating to ACTS Retreats. The recommendations herein are voluntary, and each Parish assumes all risks of personal injury, sickness, and death that may arise from using this guidance or conducting ACTS Retreats.
As always, you remain in our prayers and we rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us.
ACTS Missions
