Greetings From Pastor Lyn
Letter for week of May 28, 2020
Dear Sisters & Brothers,
The heat of summer has arrived, reminding that at least some things are normal in the world! I hope all of you have continued to remain safe and healthy all these many weeks we have been away from one another.
Many of you will have by now, heard that the governor has decided to allow churches to open slowly. We’ve been planning for this eventuality and we also want to do this slowly and carefully. Beginning this Sunday, we will add one additional service opportunity so that our weekend will look as follows.
The complete liturgical service will continue to be offered online. I am looking into additional copyright licensing so that we will be able to continue this into the future. We have many more people coming through this door than through our front doors so it is a ministry we will want to continue.
Parking lot church (Morning Prayer) will continued to be offered throughout the summer. The time has changed to 9:00 AM due to the days becoming warmer. Bring your own chair(s) if you want to sit outside of your car. Masks are necessary if you are outside of your car. There is some shade available but an umbrella might be helpful too.
NEW: INSIDE church will begin at 10:00 AM in LUTHER HALL. Capacity for right now is being limited to 20 people but if this is something you have been eagerly awaiting you might want to get to the church a few minutes early. Again, bring your OWN CHAIR if you have a portable/camp/lawn chair. Some chairs will be provided but they will need to be sanitized between each use. Also, please plan to WEAR A MASK at this service. The only way we will be able to sing is if everyone has a mask. I have a few disposables if you forget. This liturgy will be a condensed version of the online service. I expect this service will last about one half hour, thereby limiting the time we are in the building. Restrooms will be available on an “urgency” only basis. If you think you will need to use the restroom, please bring your own Clorox wipes or other means of disinfecting after your use. The church’s ability to obtain supplies like wipes is limited and what we have been able to get is going to the Day Care as they have priority needs.
Just so you know….state & local permission has been given for groups of 100 or 25% of capacity to begin worship services. Due to our context at Emanuel it’s better, I believe, to go with 25% of what attendance was prior to the virus for the inside service. That was approx. 80 (give or take) and that’s how I came up with 20. We’ll give this a try and see how it goes. If this service attracts more than 20, under current guidelines we would be permitted to expand – but we would take that slowly. Communion will be served in the same way as in the parking lot. A basket will be ready to receive offerings as you come for communion. We will maintain proper distancing of course. And it should go without saying but, if you aren’t feeling up to snuff…please stay home.
Announcements: We need 1-2 additional people (a 3-4 member crew) to help do some extra cleaning in the church on Friday – yes, tomorrow at 8:30 am. Due to the heat, it will be good to be done early. The janitor is taking care of the floors but we will need to chase down some cobwebs and do a little dusting. A couple of men are power washing 20 chairs for inside church but the chairs will then need to be wiped down with a bleach solution. So, not a whole lot of work but a couple of hands will make it a faster job. Please let me know if you can help.
Coming Up: There is a possibility that a local musician may be providing some evening entertainment for us in the courtyard sometime in June. We’ll provide more information as it becomes available.
Zoom meetings: Sunday at noon: 812-9041-1908; Tuesday text study at noon: 489-057-409; Thursday Bible study at 9:30 am: 762-631-516 Join any of these any time!
Next Sunday, June 7th Bishop Elizabeth Eaton has prerecorded a sermon for Holy Trinity Sunday with Bishop Mark leading that Service of the Word. A link will be in next week’s letter. This is an opportunity to do something different or in addition to our regular service.
Blessings to all of you! We are moving Forward in Faith this day and every day.
Pastor Lyn
Dear Sisters & Brothers,
The heat of summer has arrived, reminding that at least some things are normal in the world! I hope all of you have continued to remain safe and healthy all these many weeks we have been away from one another.
Many of you will have by now, heard that the governor has decided to allow churches to open slowly. We’ve been planning for this eventuality and we also want to do this slowly and carefully. Beginning this Sunday, we will add one additional service opportunity so that our weekend will look as follows.
The complete liturgical service will continue to be offered online. I am looking into additional copyright licensing so that we will be able to continue this into the future. We have many more people coming through this door than through our front doors so it is a ministry we will want to continue.
Parking lot church (Morning Prayer) will continued to be offered throughout the summer. The time has changed to 9:00 AM due to the days becoming warmer. Bring your own chair(s) if you want to sit outside of your car. Masks are necessary if you are outside of your car. There is some shade available but an umbrella might be helpful too.
NEW: INSIDE church will begin at 10:00 AM in LUTHER HALL. Capacity for right now is being limited to 20 people but if this is something you have been eagerly awaiting you might want to get to the church a few minutes early. Again, bring your OWN CHAIR if you have a portable/camp/lawn chair. Some chairs will be provided but they will need to be sanitized between each use. Also, please plan to WEAR A MASK at this service. The only way we will be able to sing is if everyone has a mask. I have a few disposables if you forget. This liturgy will be a condensed version of the online service. I expect this service will last about one half hour, thereby limiting the time we are in the building. Restrooms will be available on an “urgency” only basis. If you think you will need to use the restroom, please bring your own Clorox wipes or other means of disinfecting after your use. The church’s ability to obtain supplies like wipes is limited and what we have been able to get is going to the Day Care as they have priority needs.
Just so you know….state & local permission has been given for groups of 100 or 25% of capacity to begin worship services. Due to our context at Emanuel it’s better, I believe, to go with 25% of what attendance was prior to the virus for the inside service. That was approx. 80 (give or take) and that’s how I came up with 20. We’ll give this a try and see how it goes. If this service attracts more than 20, under current guidelines we would be permitted to expand – but we would take that slowly. Communion will be served in the same way as in the parking lot. A basket will be ready to receive offerings as you come for communion. We will maintain proper distancing of course. And it should go without saying but, if you aren’t feeling up to snuff…please stay home.
Announcements: We need 1-2 additional people (a 3-4 member crew) to help do some extra cleaning in the church on Friday – yes, tomorrow at 8:30 am. Due to the heat, it will be good to be done early. The janitor is taking care of the floors but we will need to chase down some cobwebs and do a little dusting. A couple of men are power washing 20 chairs for inside church but the chairs will then need to be wiped down with a bleach solution. So, not a whole lot of work but a couple of hands will make it a faster job. Please let me know if you can help.
Coming Up: There is a possibility that a local musician may be providing some evening entertainment for us in the courtyard sometime in June. We’ll provide more information as it becomes available.
Zoom meetings: Sunday at noon: 812-9041-1908; Tuesday text study at noon: 489-057-409; Thursday Bible study at 9:30 am: 762-631-516 Join any of these any time!
Next Sunday, June 7th Bishop Elizabeth Eaton has prerecorded a sermon for Holy Trinity Sunday with Bishop Mark leading that Service of the Word. A link will be in next week’s letter. This is an opportunity to do something different or in addition to our regular service.
Blessings to all of you! We are moving Forward in Faith this day and every day.
Pastor Lyn