A LETTER FROM PASTOR DAVID:

 

Dear Friends,

 

Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!  I pray that you are finding peace and strength during this extraordinary season.  While our building has been closed over the past few months, church leaders have been hard at work preparing for a safe return to in-person ministry.  Worship has been at the heart of these plans, because it forms the heart of who we are as a church family, inspiring so much of our fellowship, discipleship, and service.

 

I am excited to share that in-person services will resume on Sunday, September 6.  Eventually we plan to return to a full, “regular” schedule, but initially our worship offerings will include:

 

• 10:00 Worship in the Fellowship Hall, designed especially for children and their families
• 11:00 Worship in the Sanctuary, which will be much like our traditional services in the past
• Online Worship that premieres at 11:00 each Sunday morning and is then available to view any time on the church website, Facebook page, and YouTube channel.

 

Guided by Bishop Sharma Lewis and the Virginia Conference of The United Methodist Church, as well as recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control, our Healthy Church Team has developed the following guidelines for in-person worship.  A video describing our expectations and answering many questions is provided at the bottom of this page and may also be accessed here.

 

• Please let us know that you are planning to come to worship (and which service you will attend) by calling the church office or completing the brief form on this page our website (or available here) by Thursday of the prior week.
• Everyone will wear a face covering throughout the service.  Be sure yours is covering your mouth and nose before you leave your vehicle, and plan to keep it on until you return afterward.
• Enter through the Fellowship Hall doors for the 10:00 service and through the narthex at 11:00.
• When you enter the church, a volunteer will record your name and phone number, take your temperature, and ask you to confirm that you do not have symptoms of COVID-19.
• Another volunteer will walk you to your seat.  Tables will be arranged in the Fellowship Hall — and some pews will be roped off in the sanctuary — in order to allow for safe social distancing.
• Research indicates that shorter gatherings are safer, so we are planning for 30-minute services.
• Although we will not be able to sing together, we will be blessed by live music (without vocals) and by recorded musical offerings featuring the abundant talent in our church and community.
• Nursery care will not be available, but of course people of all ages are welcome in all of our services.

 

Although many of these are difficult and unwelcome changes, they will help us care for another and protect our community.  Thank you for your patience and understanding, as we find our way forward together.

 

Please know that we love you and we’re here for you, whether you’re planning to be in worship beginning September 6, or if you choose to wait a little longer, or just wish to keep worshiping with us online for the time being.  There is no right or wrong way to approach this, and we are all (always!) one family in Christ.

 

Thanks be to God!

 

Blessings Upon Blessings,

Pastor David Vaughan

 

DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THIS LETTER IN PDF FORMAT