Sunday Service Update | 5/10/20

Posted on 10May posted by admin CATEGORIES: General

Dear Church Family,
 
We are going to begin to regather for worship on May 17, 2020. The Elders selected this date because it is after Governor DeWine has scheduled to allow retail stores to re-open. Keeping in mind that the stay-at-home order never applied to churches, we are not violating any government order in taking this course of action. The Elders have made every effort to weigh the safety of our congregation with our desire to be an example to the community in terms of our compliance with the spirit of Governor DeWine’s directives. We have attempted to love our neighbor by slowing the spread of the COVID-19 virus. That being said, here are the details for May 17th.
 
  • Due to social distancing requirements, our seating capacity will be much lower than usual. We can safely accommodate 40 families on May 17. Whether you are a single person or a large family, you count as 1 family. There will be no Sunday School, children’s programs or nursery to begin with. If you desire to attend, please contact the church office beginning Monday morning to reserve your spot for the 17th. If all the spots fill up for the 17th, you can sign up for the following Sunday. In this period, you can expect to worship online some Sundays and worship in person other Sundays. We hope to be back to two services on May 24th with each service able to accommodate 40 families. If you are in a high-risk group or are sensitive to chemical disinfectants (Lysol), please consider attending the 9AM service on May 24th as we will be disinfecting after the 9AM service in preparation for the 10:45AM service.
  • The main thing we would like for you to observe is social distancing while in the building. We want you to fellowship with each other, but please maintain a distance of 6ft apart (unless you are in the same family). To help with this, we would ask that you arrive early because getting to your seat may take longer than normal. After the service is over, we will dismiss by rows so we can keep proper distance. When we dismiss you, please proceed to the parking lot. There you can fellowship more before departing. If you bring a jacket or hat, please keep it with you or leave it in your car.
  • We will make every effort to have doors propped open and minimize the number of things you will need to touch. A team of people will be here to direct you and answer any questions. Team members will also say something if people are starting to bunch up or are getting too close. Please make their job easy.
  • If you are scheduled to come Sunday and you feel ill in any way, please stay home.
  • Here are some recommendations we would like you to keep in mind:
      • If you are in a high-risk group due to age or health, please worship from home. 
      • We recommend you wear a mask, especially as you enter and exit the building. Masks
        will be available to you as you enter.
      • We recommend you use the hand sanitizer stations that will be around our building.
      • When you are in the parking lot, please maintain social distancing because our
        community is watching and we want to show them that we are loving them by slowing
        the virus spread.
      • These recommendations are just that… recommendations. We are not going to prohibit people from attending worship because they are in a high-risk group or not wearing a mask. Knowing
        this, we are asking you to assess your situation and make a wise decision to protect yourself
        and your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

If the Lord wills, this will be behind us soon, and these guidelines will not be necessary. These guidelines, though imperfect, represent our best understanding of a wise way to regather. We will be learning as we go, and these guidelines will likely change. Thank you for your understanding.

 

Pastor Scott Tiede on behalf of the Elder Board.

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