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Dear CGS Family -
Good afternoon! It's Friday, and Sunday is coming!
This Sunday morning (September 27), CGS will provide three options by which our church family may worship together. Some of us i) have signed up to participate in-person, within our sanctuary, beginning promptly at 10:30, while others ii) will choose to join from home via our simultaneous livestream, or will elect iii) to access the recorded worship later that day.
Regardless of the dictates of our personal circumstances in this COVID season, we at CGS remain one united family in Christ. Indeed, we are also one universal family in Christ - joined with the redeemed of Christ worldwide, spanning centuries and continents and time-zones... So - despite sundry times and divers manners - we can all rejoice with the Psalmist: "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD" (Psalm 122:1).
RE-GATHERING IN OUR SANCTUARY: FAQs
Apologies in advance for all the details that follow: but inquiring minds keep asking, so I am acquiescing. It's not my fault that you all ask so many questions: Ha !...
1) What time should I arrive for the service?
Our intent is to begin the worship service promptly at 10:30. Because of COVID-imposed safety protocols, the process of entering/seating will be a bit more protracted than customary. Arriving at the sanctuary door no later than 10:15 is advisable.
2) Where do I park?
Use the north (main) campus entrance, closest to the sanctuary. Because of our diminished seating capacity, the main sanctuary parking lot will comfortably accommodate all of our cars.
3) Where do I enter the church?
Two external/outside entry points (only) will be available: i) the main front sanctuary doors are intended as the principal site of access, but ii) the downstairs (auditorium) doors will also be available to provide ancillary support for those who need elevator assistance.
None of the other external doors of our facility will be open, as we are intentionally attempting to limit traffic and exposure in the non-sanctuary portions of our building. Please cooperate with us in this endeavor.
4) What do I need to be aware of as I enter?
Masks will be required of all persons aged 6 or older; masks are also encouraged for those children between 3-5.
Our greeters and deacons will help you avoid congestion and assist you in maintaining appropriate separation as you enter and are seated. If you arrive and find a slight queue waiting for admittance, be patient and simply respect the types of spatial distancing norms that we have all now become accustomed to.
The main (outside/external) sanctuary doors are comprised of 3 pairs of double doors. The central pair (only) will be closed, allowing our greeters and deacons to disperse flow into the sanctuary thru two separate "entry streams".
Two hand sanitization stations will be situated immediately inside the sanctuary entrance for your convenience and safety, one for each of the two "streams" of entering persons. Be aware of appropriate distancing as you await your opportunity at the station.
Once you (and your group, if applicable) have finished hand sanitization, a deacon will assist you in being seated.
5) How will seating occur?
In order to guarantee that all who signed up can be seated, our deacons will be directing our seating. Please extend grace to your deacons and to each other by waiting to be seated. Your patience will be an enormous help to us in determining the most advantageous way to seat arriving groups of persons. We recognize that this makes it unlikely that you will be seated in your favorite, "sacrosanct" spot: perish the thought !
Seating will occur from front to back within the sanctuary, both to economize available seating capacity as well as to avoid having to seat persons in forward locations after the service has begun.
Every other row of pews will be left vacant. These have been cordoned off.
You (or your group) will be seated on the aisles only, meaning that only two persons or groups of persons can be seated on any one pew. This avoids person(s) having to cross over others not of their same group to exit their pew, should they need to leave unexpectedly during the service itself. This is obviously not the most economical seating strategy, but it is the safest. And it is one reason that we are depending upon your cooperation and patience during the seating process...
For your bemusement: On most of the pews, you will find a soft six-foot "spacing bar" (akin to a child's "swimming pool noodle") resting in the middle of the pew. Just slide it down the pew towards the other end as your group is seated. This will provide the deacons (and you as well) a quick visual reassurance that an appropriate amount of space exists between your seating group and any other group on your same pew....
6) Are bathrooms accessible?
Yes, of course. But the service will be of one hour's duration or less... To assist us in limiting traffic and exposure in the remainder of the facility, please make use of the bathrooms downstairs from the sanctuary, adjacent to the elevator, as necessary.
7) Is nursery care or child care available during the worship service?
Not yet.
8) Is the
Baby Room available for nursing mothers if needed?
Yes.
9) May I bring an offering to the service?
Yes. The deacons will not be passing offering plates during the service, but as you exit the service there will be two small tables - each with an offering plate - positioned conveniently in the narthex. Having your check filled out prior to the service will allow you to deposit your offering seamlessly as you depart...
10) How will we be dismissed after the service?
To avoid congestion, the deacons will dismiss us by pew, starting from the rear of the church. Please do not leave before your deacon indicates to do so; this will allow us to provide safe spacing as we depart.
We will all exit the sanctuary by the lateral (side) aisles and the lateral (side) sanctuary doors; none of us will exit via the center aisle, nor via the main center (indoor) sanctuary doors. The deacons will help remind you of this when they are dismissing your pew.
If you are seated on the left half of the sanctuary (facing the pulpit), when your pew is dismissed you will exit the sanctuary thru your side doors, move briefly thru the narthex, and then exit the church thru the main front (outer) doors onto our tiered front steps (just as you commonly would have, in a "pre-COVID" world). Please keep moving until you completely clear the steps, to prevent congestion behind you.
If you are seated on the right half of the sanctuary (facing the pulpit), when your pew is dismissed you will exit the sanctuary thru your side doors, move briefly into the narthex, and then continue down the corridor that leads to the nursery and children's classrooms (Phase 1 wing). You will exit the church thru the outer doors that lead into the breezeway between the nursery and the Administrative Office. Please keep moving until you clear the children's playground area, to prevent congestion behind you.
Parting Shots -
Again, my apologies for the extent of detail provided/required; we are trying our best to provide a sense of reassurance to each of you as you prepare to return to our sanctuary for worship...
But I also don't want this process to seem intimidating or dispiriting: in simplest of terms, we are just gathering - coming and going - in accord with the same types of patterns we have grown accustomed to in grocery stores and other public spaces... But in return, we get to worship our God !!
Reiterating: it is your pastors' earnest prayer that our church body will remain one in spirit throughout this continuing COVID-imposed journey:
We trust that those who are able to gather in our sanctuary on Sundays will lift up in prayer those many who are not... And we pray that the much larger number among our church family who worship from home will undergird with prayer their "representatives" in the pews every Sunday also...
And we pray that we may all be able to recognize - with gratitude -- God's hand of sustaining mercy and grace in this moment, whatever our individual circumstances...
Godspeed,
Glenn Jordan
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