Snohomish County was just approved for phase 2, meaning we have the option to gather indoors this Sunday (with some restrictions). We considered remaining outdoors–higher limit on participants, one service, better ventilation–but the weather doesn’t look good and it would be difficult to change course Sunday morning. So we’re going to try two indoor services this week, and probably do more outdoor services when the weather is a bit more reliable. We will also continue to live stream the service for those not comfortable coming yet. If you decide to stay home, I encourage you to consider having another family over and watching the service together.
Based on the guidelines, we can have 40 people in the sanctuary, and another 13 in the fellowship hall (where we’ll have a live feed of the service). As kids and adults will all be in the service (more info below), we’ll likely need two services to stay under the limit. Please RSVP for either the 9:00 or 10:45 service here.
To be able to do this, we need to (and will) have a comprehensive exposure control, mitigation, and recovery plan in place. Among other things, everyone two years of age and older needs to wear a face covering at all times, unless health reasons prohibit it. Regardless of the recommendation, this is wise and loving to others, especially with us being inside this week, and with singing being shown to release much more aerosol droplets than speaking. You may not be convinced of the value of face coverings, but please help us love one another and be a good witness to our community.
It goes without saying, but if you are showing any signs and symptoms, please remain home this week.
Additionally, we will sanitize surfaces before each service; have groups of chairs separated by six feet; have sanitizer, wipes, gloves around the building; will keep the main door open to limit touching of surfaces; and will not have any food or coffee. Like last week, we will observe communion with individual cups of juice and pieces of bread in zip-lock bags.
For the time being, we are going to hold off on providing nursery or Roots Kids classes. We will eventually ease this back in, but it will be a few weeks at least. As always, we love having kids in the service.
I look forward to seeing many of you Sunday! If you would like to see the complete exposure control, mitigation, and recovery plan, let me know.
Pastor Derek