May 14, 2020
Friends:
Leadership Council met this past Monday (May 11) to continue our discussion about reopening the building for church use. We know that everyone wants to gather for worship again in our buildings, but we also know that everyone wants to do that safely. Here is our plan to move forward:
- We have not set a date to open the building for Sunday worship. When we do decide to open, we will follow the guidelines of the Center for Disease Control, the White House and Governor’s office, our insurance provider, and denominational resources. Some of these guidelines will include:
- Keeping the gathering small – this will require some type of “sign up” system to attend a service.
- Practicing social distancing as we enter/exit the building and while in worship services. We will set up chairs and mark off pews to accomplish this.
- Having shorter services to limit use of restrooms.
- Not using hymnbooks, pew Bibles, offering plates or anything that is passed from one person to another.
- Strongly encouraging or requiring attendees to wear a mask.
- Creating signage and having enough ushers to direct people.
- Encouraging people in high risk groups to continue to watch the service online.
- Finding out from the congregation how comfortable you will be with entering the building and what safeguards you want us to have in place before we open the building. (please fill out this survey to help)
- Having custodial presence at the building so we are actively wiping down surfaces.
- When we are in “Phase 1,” as defined by state officials, we will allow some small groups (less than 10) to meet in the worship center or chapel where we can maintain social distancing.
We know this is difficult for everyone. We continue to add online resources to provide opportunities for engagement and spiritual growth. Please let us know how we can support you during this time.
We are a church that can look to our history to give us a path forward today. During the Civil War, our church did not meet for 7 months. When we began to meet again, we started with prayer groups, then moved to twice a month “preaching services” and then gradually resumed the regular church schedule. While this is a different time, we believe it is still relevant today.
We are committed to keeping our congregation and community safe during this time. Please reach out if you have any concerns, questions or thoughts.
Leadership Council (send a message to Leadership Council by contacting the office.
Suzanne Dorsey, Chair Paul W. Bates, Jr., Vice Chair Thelma Moss (Finance rep.)
Keri Nicholson Geary Parkinson Phyllis Turner
Brandi Warfield (Personnel rep.) Anne Yeaman Dan Carlton (Pastor)