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Indoor Worship with Protocols and Zoom
Bethany is currently holding two Indoor Worship Services on Sunday mornings, for a maximum of 25 people at each service, masked and distanced. You must sign-up in advance. (Email bethanylutheranboone@gmail.com to receive a link to the Google Doc sign-up sheet.) Indoor Worship is for those who can wear face masks.
The 11am service will also be Zoomed. (Email bethanylutheranboone@gmail.com if you'd like to receive the Zoom links each week.)
*Homecoming, Oct. 25 will be on ZOOM ONLY*
A dramatic rise in local Covid-19 cases, and positive cases among our membership might cause us to cancel Indoor Worship and go back to online-only worship. Please continue to self-monitor your symptoms and exposure to others when considering attending worship indoors.
Other protocols for in-person worship can be found in the following recommendations:
Worship Recommendations
From Bethany Re-Gathering Task Force
September 15, 2020
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Safety
Measures:
o Masks Required
o Encourage people to stay home if you feel ill or have
been exposed to COVID-19 or have been in other at-risk situations
o An usher open front door for everyone
o Offering Plate in Narthex
o Every other pew roped off for
distancing. A family may sit in the same
pew. Two individuals from different
families may sit on opposite ends of the same pew.
o Use only half of the sanctuary for each service (ie.
Early service use lectern side, late service use pulpit side)
o Pastor Laura would take mask off while leading worship
so people can understand her – would be at altar most of the service, and would
preach either from the pulpit, slid back away from the piano
o Take hymnals out of sanctuary
o Project Service onto a screen, eliminating the need
for bulletins
o Air flow: in cold weather, turn heat on prior to
service, but turn off before early service, so air is not being circulated
around the room – heat would remain off the rest of the morning, so late
service attendees would need to dress warmly
o Have rubber gloves and hand sanitizer in Narthex to be
available as needed
o No singing
o Communion Considerations:
§ Prepare individual disposable bowls with a piece of
bread and an individual disposable wine cup, filled – laid out on a cookie
sheet tray in advance of the service – have different trays ready for each
service, plus have chalice and paten prepared for Pastor Laura to use on the
altar
o No fellowship meals
o Cleaning between services: using different sides of
the sanctuary eliminates the need to sanitize pews; having an usher open the door eliminates number of people
touching the doorknob; redesignate the upstairs bathrooms: left
bathroom for early service, right bathroom for late service, cleaning supplies and signs asking people to wipe surfaces as they leave bathroom
o If Pastor Laura is sick or exposed to COVID-19, cancel
Indoor Worship and Zoom only, as health allows.
o If others in congregation have COVID-19, the case
count locally goes up dramatically, or any other health/safety concern may
cause Council to cancel Indoor Worship on any given week – remind people to
check email Sunday morning before they head out the door to see if worship is
cancelled.
o Funeral & Wedding Consideration – for church members only: have 23 family members indoors; have a way for people to listen/watch from their cars (livestream to mobile devices, people can use church’s WiFi in parking lot, or FM transmitter) so people can sit in parking lot and listen to service and be able to greet family from a distance outside when they leave.
·
Other
Considerations
o Still no outside groups using the church at this time
o Homecoming on Oct. 25 will be on Zoom ONLY
Bethany's Council, following the strong recommendations and expectations from NC Synod Council, is cancelling all in-person gatherings, including worship in the building and committee meetings in the building, THROUGH MAY 12. Once again, this decision is not about panic, but about protecting the most vulnerable. We will continue to have Worship at Home. If you would like to worship "with us" from your own home, and are not already on our email list, please send a request to: bethanylutheranboone@gmail.com.
Stay tuned for some new online worship opportunities coming up for Holy Week and Easter.
This is not what any of us wanted. But we hope you'll continue to stay engaged with your church family through Worship at Home and some of the other opportunities you'll be hearing about soon, through email and newsletter.
God bless you and yours.
In Christ's Peace,
Bethany Lutheran Church
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