COVID-19 Update as of 6/19/20:

Church Services will resume on 6/28/20. 

Please read the letter below from Pastor Eckert & the Congregational Council

before attending church.

June 19, 2020

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Dear Family,

With gratitude for the sacrifices you have made and continue to make, we are thankful to share with you that we are planning to resume worship gatherings in person on June 28, 2020. Our service will be in Luther Hall beginning at 10:00 AM. We are preparing to welcome up to 75 worshippers on that Sunday. We will continue our fast from Holy Communion, as suggested by Bishop Dunlop. Therefore, the service on June 28 and a few succeeding services will be a Service of the Word and Thanksgiving without Holy Communion.

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These are the guidelines that will be in place for our worship while this pandemic is still with us. We will ask you to commit yourself to these guidelines as you come to worship on June 28 and subsequent Sundays.

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• If you are feeling unwell, please stay home

• Cloth face masks must be worn at all times covering the mouth and nose (this is non-negotiable, if you are uncomfortable wearing a mask, we ask you to be respectful and stay at home and enjoy the service on WMSS)

• Family units will sit together at least 6 feet from other worshipers. An usher will help to guide you to your seats)

• We will not be using hymnals

• We will not be using bulletins (the bulletin will be projected on the screen)

• Offering plates will be located at the exit

• No congregational singing (Ben and Jen will be providing music)

• No responses during the liturgy

• Bathrooms for emergency use only

• No physical contact (no handshaking or hugging)

• No Holy Communion

• Enter the building only through the parking lot doors (all other doors will be locked and

we ask that you do not use them)

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We are resuming care filled worship and sacramental life during a pandemic. We are doing this carefully because the reality of COVID-19 has not disappeared. We will need your full cooperation, support, trust and prayers to make sure we are all safe and do not accidentally expose anyone to the virus. If you do not feel comfortable returning to worship, the service will still be broadcast on WMSS 91.1 at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday. The bulletin and other worship materials can be found on our website at

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A care filled response to the challenge that we face is much more than unlocking the church doors and inviting all to come, sit, sing and greet one another as has been our custom. Everyone knows the dangers posed and risks taken if we do open as if all is back to normal. We care deeply about the health of each other and we will not just open without the precautions that the CDC and our insurance provider strongly recommend.

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In Matthew 22:36-40 a lawyer asks Jesus which commandment in the law is the greatest?

Jesus said to him,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all

your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

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Our care filled plans and guidelines to resume worship gatherings in person are based on what Jesus teaches us in Matthew 22:36-40. In love and care for each other we are being care filled in how we come together again. Please receive this letter in the way it is written and sent to you with love and care. This moment calls all of us to step into the role of moral leaders to embody our love for God and our love for all neighbors doing justice, loving kindness and walking in humility with God. In that spirit, let us work together to offer care filled attention to the well- being of all people.

 

With Christian love,

Pastor Eckert and Congregation Council

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