After prayerful discussion, the Elders have decided to begin a gradual return to our regular services beginning this coming Sunday, May 3rd. As we do this, we desire to be guided by two biblical principles, an unfailing trust in our Sovereign God who "works all things after the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11) and a genuine love for our neighbor as ourselves (Rom. 13:9b). Since this first Sunday in May would normally be a fellowship Sunday which would include the Lord's Supper, a fellowship meal, and then no evening service, we will follow that pattern with the exception of eliminating the fellowship meal due to health concerns. Therefore, we will have the usual morning service at 11:00 A.M. (NO CLA) followed by the Lord's Supper, then we will depart for the day.
We realize that there are a multitude of opinions and "experts" behind those opinions regarding how best to deal with the COVID-19 "pandemic" at this time. Regardless of you or your family's opinion, in order to truly love our neighbor and fellow believers as ourselves, we will all adhere to the following rules while we worship together:
1. If you are sick or a member of your family is sick, whether it be from a confirmed case of COVID-19 or "just a cold," PLEASE STAY HOME! If you come to church and are obviously sick or acknowledge you are not feeling well or members of your family are sick, we will ask you to immediately go home - No exceptions! We love you in Christ, but we don't want you to spread your sickness to others. If you do not attend due to illness of any kind, please let us know so that we can pray for you.
2. Please respect others and maintain the current recommended social distancing guidelines (6 feet apart) between yourself and others (or your family and others!). Allow at least one additional pew between you and another family or individual. We realize this is difficult for the church family members who haven't seen each other for several weeks, but please refrain from ALL close contact both before and after the service by taking into account the health and well-being of all. For those who feel compelled to wear a mask and for those who do not, respect each other's opinion and "love one another." Obviously, for the time being, please avoid shaking hands, giving hugs, etc., until we have a more sure idea of the end of the pandemic.
3. Please try to minimize touching common surfaces (door handles, stair rails, bathrooms, other pews, etc. The less common touching, the less possible issues with any transmissions.
Our plans for continuing this gradual return to normal currently include the Wednesday evening service next week, follow by the morning worship only on May 10th (Mother's Day). In accordance with our recently approved (and posted) policy, we were not going to have an evening service that day anyways. At this point we will not be resuming CLA immediately and will evaluate that as we move forward.
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