Worship Schedule and Procedures

• September 13th at 10am: We will be returning to in-person worship (with Facebook Live streaming of the service). We will partake of communion together for our first official Sunday back to in-person worship with pre-packaged elements for safety. Though it will be our custom to do communion the first Sunday of the month, I think it is very appropriate to join in this sacrament for our first Sunday together.

Talking with some of you, I know how ready each of us are to see each other again (or for the first time for me)! We also want to make sure we are taking every precaution, in the words of John Wesley, to “Do no harm.” We want to make sure that each of us is as safe as possible. To that length, we will be taking the following precautions:

• We will be meeting outdoors when in-person. If you have one, bring your own chair. It will help us to cut down on the time spent on sanitation after the service. We can provide some chairs if you don’t bring your own.
• In accordance with the best practices related to how we understand COVID-19, we will maintain a social distance of at least 6 feet. I’m a hugger and a handshaker, so this is going to be difficult for me, but I will sacrifice this particular ministry for the greater good. If you do not live with people, please keep social distance between them and you.
• There will be masks provided for those who do not have any. Please bring your own if you have one and wear it. I know we’re worshipping outside, which helps mitigate some of the risk of spread, but our best understanding of this disease is that masks can help prevent its transmission. There will also be plenty of hand sanitizer, and combined with masks, social distance, and being outdoors, I think this is the safest way possible for us to be together.
• We will check you in to worship. Someone will staff a check-in table and we will make sure that we have your proper contact info. This carries with it the bonus of updating our directory information for you, but also will be necessary for contact tracing. We will never disclose the identity of anyone who tests positive for COVID-19, but we will let anyone in attendance who was exposed know that they were exposed in that event. To do this, we need to take careful attendance, even and especially for visitors.
• If you feel uncomfortable joining us in-person at the moment, it is ok to feel uncomfortable. We would love for you to join us online and then to return to in-person worship when you feel comfortable. We would also invite you to stay at home and stream our service if you or someone you live with is COVID-19 positive or demonstrating symptoms. This, of course, falls under our responsibility to do no harm.