We’ve got a powerful and joyful service planned for this Sunday, May 9 as we return to inside worship for the first time in 14 months. Services will be at 7:45 and 10 AM. Please remember that the 10 AM service will continue to be live-streamed this Sunday and in the future. You can always choose to watch the service on-line.
For those of you who will be attending the live service at 10 AM, keep in mind that we go live at 9:45 AM and that the microphones in the sanctuary are sensitive. Any sound you make or conversation you have can be picked up on those microphones and sent out to the world. Consider this when you enter the sanctuary. Also remember that we can now meet and greet one another outside before and after the service, and we encourage all of you to do so.
At this time, there will be no congregational singing, but we have a surprise for you to participate in at the end of the service, whether at home or in person at both services this Sunday.
To insure your safety, these are the steps we will be taking and what we ask of each of you attending in person:
1) All windows and doors to the outside will be opened throughout the service.
2) Merv 13 air filters have been installed.
3) Pews will be marked for seating locations, insuring 6 feet distance between family groups.
4) Service time will be under 75 minutes.
5) We will have a maximum seating capacity of 200.
6) All congregants must wear a mask, properly worn over nose and mouth.
7) There will be no congregational singing at this time.
8) We will continue utilizing four masked singers and not a full choir.
9) Communion will be served in one kind in the no touch fashion we are presently using.
10) Children and youth and the nursery will be meeting outside and in McBride Hall, with the swamp cooler running to provide 100% air from the outside.
11) We are strongly suggesting that only those who have been fully vaccinated for two weeks attend the services in person.
12) The pews will be sanitized with a disinfectant between the services.
The 7:45 AM service will be a basic Prayer Book service with no singing. The 10 AM service will include the four singers and a beyond the Prayer Book liturgy with prayers linking to the Revised Common Lectionary for the week. Both services will include communion.
There will no longer be restrictions on conversations after the services. We can now encourage all to meet outside after the service to kibbutz in person and catch up after all these months. There will be more items that come up as we pivot back to indoor worship, but this is how we will begin.
The next step will be to put together a more formal coffee hour after each service or between the services. The Diocese has approved outdoor settings for such coffee hours. These gatherings can include food and drinks, but careful consideration must be made regarding hygiene, spacing, location during the summer heat, and how to host them. We would like to put together a sub-committee to consider these questions in hopes that we can get something organized in the next few weeks. If you would be interested in that planning, please contact our parish administrator, Pam Spears.
We will also be considering Adult Spiritual Formation and potential hybrid forms of gathering together again. Ideas? Share them with Harlan Hokin.
