At this point, here is what we are planning for beginning to gather in person again as a church, in light of the governor’s four-phase plan. We do think as a church that we should abide by the recommendations and phased plan at this point. Here is a helpful article that explains some of our convictions. While this time of not gathering has probably been longer than any of us imagined, it is encouraging to finally have an end in sight!
As we ease back in, we don’t think it wise to have a full Roots Kids ministry available during service. Instead, we will have families sit together in the service. As has always been the case, we love having kids in the service! Please don’t worry about your children making noise or being a distraction; it’s part of the joy of having a church with a lot of kids, and there’s value in us being all together for worship. If you need to step out, we’ll have audio and video routed to the fellowship hall.
Phase 2 (begins May 26th at earliest):
- Continue watching live-streamed services at home
- Continue men’s and women’s studies over Zoom
- Continue checking in on one another in various ways
Phase 3 (begins June 16th at earliest):
- We get to gather in person!! We will have two services during phase 3 (9/10:45), with online sign-ups so that we keep under the limit of 50. We will also continue to stream for those not yet ready to come. Families will sit together, with nursery available for 0-24 months (No older kids classes). Rows of chairs will be positioned six feet apart. We will have surfaces sanitized between services, and other safety procedures in place (sanitizer available, communion/coffee served by one person, no bulletins, etc.).
- Women’s study will be finished; men’s study may continue in person
Phase 4 (begins July 7 at earliest):
- We will move back to one service at 10:30, but continue online streaming for those not yet comfortable coming. We will have additional seating in the fellowship hall to allow for more distancing, with video and sound routed to TV there. Roots Kids ministry will be available for 0-8 year olds, with sanitation and safety measures in place. The church will undergo a more extensive cleaning each week.
As things stand at the moment, this is our plan. As we’re all aware, things are shifting all the time, so we will prayerfully seek to adapt this as the situation and recommendations change. Thank you for bearing with us as we figure this out. May God hasten the day we can once again gather as a church!