Dear Friends,
Key clergy and seven leaders from our Church Council have met to establish new protocols as we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic. We want to share with you this summary of how our pandemic restrictions will be relaxed as we navigate this summer:
- As stated in our Covid Comeback Plan, if you feel ill and have any symptoms of illness, or have been around anyone testing positive for Covid-19, please stay home and watch our worship services from the safety and comfort of your home.
- Small in-person meetings and studies will decide their own set of rules for interacting with one another. This is true for both our own ministry groups as well as other organizations that use our building. Our fellowship gatherings during the summer will be held outside where no masks are required.
- We will be removing the ribbons that restrict seating from the front half to two-thirds of our sanctuary. This will leave the back seating area of our sanctuary for folks who would like more structured social distancing and can enter and leave our sanctuary with minimal contact with other worshippers.
- Wearing masks during worship is optional. The Center for Disease Control states that unvaccinated people should wear masks. We would like to add that anyone feeling safer while wearing a mask should feel free to do so, and we urge anyone not vaccinated to strongly consider getting vaccinated.
- All special music performances during the summer will continue to be pre-recorded.
- Bulletins will be available beginning on July 4.
- Congregational singing will resume on August 1. Also on August 1, any tables with ministry information, sign-ups, and sales may also return to the narthex and adjacent hallway.
- There will be no coffee fellowship during the summer months.
This plan, like all prior plans during the Covid-19 pandemic, is contingent on the number of new Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths remaining low to very low. We will be paying very close attention to those indicators during the summer, especially during the weeks following July 4, the first fully unrestricted holiday since the pandemic began in March 2020.
Thank you for your kind attention to the plan outlined above. Remember that you can always see our worship service on line each Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. We look forward to seeing you in worship!
Because of Christ,
Rev. Dr. Jack L. Mannschreck, Lead Pastor