Worship Plan
When the summer began, it looked like the pandemic was winding down, and we could look ahead to returning to something that felt more normal. Session decided that beginning in September, we would resume in-person worship 1st & 3rd Sunday mornings, 2nd & 4th Saturday evenings with those Sundays as Sabbath days. But the highly contagious delta variant is now surging, and we now know it can be passed by vaccinated people, especially gathering indoors in groups. Some ways to gather are safer than others, and as school resumes and our unvaccinated kids are more widely exposed and also “bubbled” with their classroom families, session has prayerfully considered what would be the best way to come together for worship.
In the midst of all the unknowns with this pandemic, it turns out we are still in a time of needing to adapt and be flexible, and take things in small time periods instead of a year out. But we are also needing a change from what we have been doing, without losing the connection we’ve been able to maintain throughout the pandemic through online worship. So, seeking to honor our congregation’s high value on connection, and to meet our congregation’s needs for inspiration and grounding while also keeping in mind safety and our capacity as a community and individuals, session feels really good about the following plan we’ve come up with for September and October.
We will resume in-person worship for the 2nd & 4th weekend Saturday evening services, and keep meeting online-only for the 1st & 3rd Sunday morning services. In other words,
1st & 3rd Weekends: we will worship Sunday mornings at 10 am on Zoom
2nd & 4th Weekends: We will worship both in-person and by zoom Saturdays at 5 pm in the sanctuary for a contemplative service with prayer stations. On those weekends, Sunday morninings at 10 am the zoom link will be open those who wish to gather for breakout rooms.
Rally Sunday!
Sunday, September 5, we will gather in-person at the church building at 10 am, to kick off Fall and our new schedule. We will begin in the sanctuary with a short service to reopen the space with worship and a blessing of the building, and then gather on the patio for a boxed lunch picnic. We will have tours of the preschool space, and pray a blessing over our kids and teachers as the school year begins. So kids – bring your backpacks for a blessing of the backpacks! The sanctuary portion and preschool tour will include those from a distance via zoom. There will not be singing indoors and masks and distancing will be required indoors.
Then, the following weekend will be our first Saturday evening service. These services will require masks and will not include singing, and prayer stations will be adapted to accommodate spacing. We will include people from a distance via zoom with prayer stations that can be done at home.
Many of us have been craving the kind of soul-rest that comes from being silent in a sacred space with others. Pastor Kara will open and close the services with scripture and prayer, and Erin will play the piano while we pray with the labyrinth, prayer map, candles, art or writing, or simply by sitting in a rocker and letting our minds and hearts rest in God’s presence. Just as happens every week, a devotion with a link to the video of the service will be sent out following worship for those who are unable to attend either in-person or via zoom. On Sabbath Sundays, these second and fourth weekends, zoom breakout coffee hour will be held Sunday morning at 10 am for those wanting conversation and connection.
We will continue this pattern through September and October.
On October 31, a 5th Sunday, we will have another special in-person gathering (perhaps with costumes!) More details on that down the road.
Thank you, church, for continuing to show up for each other. Thanks for staying connected and flexible as we continue to navigate these difficult times. God is holding us. God is holding the world. It’s good to help each other keep remembering this.
Please feel free to reach out to Pastor Kara, Pastor Lisa, or any member of session (Sue Hensel, Joyce, Brian, Jason, Sue Goodspeed or Amy) if you have any questions or concerns or ideas. With prayer and attentiveness, we will keep figuring things out as we go, and, as we say in our guiding convictions, we all share the ministry of the church.
In the midst of all the unknowns with this pandemic, it turns out we are still in a time of needing to adapt and be flexible, and take things in small time periods instead of a year out. But we are also needing a change from what we have been doing, without losing the connection we’ve been able to maintain throughout the pandemic through online worship. So, seeking to honor our congregation’s high value on connection, and to meet our congregation’s needs for inspiration and grounding while also keeping in mind safety and our capacity as a community and individuals, session feels really good about the following plan we’ve come up with for September and October.
We will resume in-person worship for the 2nd & 4th weekend Saturday evening services, and keep meeting online-only for the 1st & 3rd Sunday morning services. In other words,
1st & 3rd Weekends: we will worship Sunday mornings at 10 am on Zoom
2nd & 4th Weekends: We will worship both in-person and by zoom Saturdays at 5 pm in the sanctuary for a contemplative service with prayer stations. On those weekends, Sunday morninings at 10 am the zoom link will be open those who wish to gather for breakout rooms.
Rally Sunday!
Sunday, September 5, we will gather in-person at the church building at 10 am, to kick off Fall and our new schedule. We will begin in the sanctuary with a short service to reopen the space with worship and a blessing of the building, and then gather on the patio for a boxed lunch picnic. We will have tours of the preschool space, and pray a blessing over our kids and teachers as the school year begins. So kids – bring your backpacks for a blessing of the backpacks! The sanctuary portion and preschool tour will include those from a distance via zoom. There will not be singing indoors and masks and distancing will be required indoors.
Then, the following weekend will be our first Saturday evening service. These services will require masks and will not include singing, and prayer stations will be adapted to accommodate spacing. We will include people from a distance via zoom with prayer stations that can be done at home.
Many of us have been craving the kind of soul-rest that comes from being silent in a sacred space with others. Pastor Kara will open and close the services with scripture and prayer, and Erin will play the piano while we pray with the labyrinth, prayer map, candles, art or writing, or simply by sitting in a rocker and letting our minds and hearts rest in God’s presence. Just as happens every week, a devotion with a link to the video of the service will be sent out following worship for those who are unable to attend either in-person or via zoom. On Sabbath Sundays, these second and fourth weekends, zoom breakout coffee hour will be held Sunday morning at 10 am for those wanting conversation and connection.
We will continue this pattern through September and October.
On October 31, a 5th Sunday, we will have another special in-person gathering (perhaps with costumes!) More details on that down the road.
Thank you, church, for continuing to show up for each other. Thanks for staying connected and flexible as we continue to navigate these difficult times. God is holding us. God is holding the world. It’s good to help each other keep remembering this.
Please feel free to reach out to Pastor Kara, Pastor Lisa, or any member of session (Sue Hensel, Joyce, Brian, Jason, Sue Goodspeed or Amy) if you have any questions or concerns or ideas. With prayer and attentiveness, we will keep figuring things out as we go, and, as we say in our guiding convictions, we all share the ministry of the church.
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We are allowing this prayer from Ephesians to continue to hold us:
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of God's glory, God may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through the Holy Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to God who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen. |
WORSHIP PLANS
SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER
- Rally Day Worship September 5! In-person gathering (with zoom for sanctuary and tour portions) to reopen the space with worship, bless the building, tour the preschool area, and pray a blessing on the kids and teachers as they return to school. Bring your backpack! Boxed lunch picnic will be served. Masks and distancing will be required indoors. There will be no indoor singing.
- Worship service times will be 10 am 1st & 3rd Sundays mornings ONLINE ONLY, 5 pm 2nd & 4th weekends on Saturday evenings IN-PERSON, with inclusive zoom components. Services are shared via email for those who cannot attend in-person or on zoom.
- Saturday evenings will be spaced and masked. No singing in these services.
- On the Sabbath Sundays, 2nd and 4th weekends, Zoom link will be open for breakout room coffee hour at 10 am.
- October 31 - 5th Sunday Gathering In-person and on zoom. Details to follow.
