The guidelines get fairly detailed, but the following represent the main points:
1. Those who are at higher risk for COVID-19 (over 65 and/or have underlying health issues) should consider staying home and continuing to worship online. Bottom line is please use your judgment and if you don't feel it's safe for you to come back, stay home and continue worshiping online until you're ready.
2. Households need to maintain social distancing of six feet in seating, as well as entering and exiting the church. Hank Salmans, our Director of Missions Outreach, is organizing a Hospitality Team to assist you and answer any questions. Members of the Hospitality Team will help avoid jams at the doors, will sit you before the service and will release worshipers afterward.
3. Bathrooms will be single use. or at least only persons from one household may be in a bathroom at a time. This one is self-explanatory we think 😬
4. Everyone (except those leading worship) is strongly encouraged to wear a mask. We know there are a lot of strong opinions about the necessity of wearing masks (as well as social distancing). We are trying to love our neighbors by exercising caution and respecting the guidance of the state. If you don't think wearing a mask is important, we're asking you to remember that there are others in our church family who are very anxious about this and you wearing a mask may help them feel more comfortable coming to worship. If you don't do it for yourself, please do it for your fellow church family.
5. We will not pass plates for the offering. We'll have baskets setup for you to drop your offering in either before or after the service. There will still be an offertory and you may wish to walk up during that song and drop your offering in at that time.
6. We'll be making changes to the way we celebrate communion. We have ordered individually wrapped communion cups and wafers for future use. Unfortunately, due to high demand, it will be two or three weeks before they arrive. For that reason we're postponing our June Communion until we're able to safely do so during our live worship service. We'll let you know when we're ready to celebrate Communion again.
7. We're not able to have separate children's ministry yet. We plan to continue having a Kids Korner children's message during the worship service. We also plan to have coloring pages and crayons available to help children stay engaged through the service.
1. Those who are at higher risk for COVID-19 (over 65 and/or have underlying health issues) should consider staying home and continuing to worship online. Bottom line is please use your judgment and if you don't feel it's safe for you to come back, stay home and continue worshiping online until you're ready.
2. Households need to maintain social distancing of six feet in seating, as well as entering and exiting the church. Hank Salmans, our Director of Missions Outreach, is organizing a Hospitality Team to assist you and answer any questions. Members of the Hospitality Team will help avoid jams at the doors, will sit you before the service and will release worshipers afterward.
3. Bathrooms will be single use. or at least only persons from one household may be in a bathroom at a time. This one is self-explanatory we think 😬
4. Everyone (except those leading worship) is strongly encouraged to wear a mask. We know there are a lot of strong opinions about the necessity of wearing masks (as well as social distancing). We are trying to love our neighbors by exercising caution and respecting the guidance of the state. If you don't think wearing a mask is important, we're asking you to remember that there are others in our church family who are very anxious about this and you wearing a mask may help them feel more comfortable coming to worship. If you don't do it for yourself, please do it for your fellow church family.
5. We will not pass plates for the offering. We'll have baskets setup for you to drop your offering in either before or after the service. There will still be an offertory and you may wish to walk up during that song and drop your offering in at that time.
6. We'll be making changes to the way we celebrate communion. We have ordered individually wrapped communion cups and wafers for future use. Unfortunately, due to high demand, it will be two or three weeks before they arrive. For that reason we're postponing our June Communion until we're able to safely do so during our live worship service. We'll let you know when we're ready to celebrate Communion again.
7. We're not able to have separate children's ministry yet. We plan to continue having a Kids Korner children's message during the worship service. We also plan to have coloring pages and crayons available to help children stay engaged through the service.