Dear Church Family,

I hope this letter finds you well! It’s hard to believe that it’s been two months since we last gathered together in our church building. During this time we’ve become more familiar with Facebook, YouTube, Zoom, and worshipping the Lord together online. I’m thankful for the technology that we have available to us. At the same time, I recognize that nothing can take the place of physically gathering together. 

This is an interesting time for the church. We long to gather together but we also want to guard against spreading the virus that threatens those most vulnerable among us. Thankfully we have seen the number of cases of those infected with virus decrease in our city and state. With the decrease in cases, the governor has lifted many of the restrictions on businesses and other activities. In view of this trend, the deacons and I believe that we can begin to safely reopen our church facility. This reopening will be gradual. We will seek to adhere to the guidelines for gathering suggested by the Center for Disease Control and the executive orders by the governor of the state of Georgia. We are continuing to monitor the virus situation locally and will modify our decision if necessary.

On Sunday, June 7th our church will have a worship service at 11am in the Sanctuary. Here are some things you need to know if you plan on attending the worship service.

• There will be no Sunday School, Children’s Church, or nursery. 

• We ask that you refrain from shaking hands or touching anyone. Greet each other with a wave.

• We ask that everyone enter through the front of the Sanctuary. If you need to enter through an entrance that is handicap accessible please let me, one of the deacons, or one of the ushers know prior to the service.

• We will have the ushers open the doors for you or the doors will be propped open. We ask that you try to refrain from touching the doors.

• There will be hand sanitizer in the vestibule. Children under the age of 2 should not use hand sanitizer.

• The ushers will escort you to your seat in the Sanctuary. We will follow social distancing guidelines which require us to be six feet apart. People living in the same household may sit together. At the end of the service we ask that you remain seated until the ushers dismiss your row. This will help us maintain the social distancing guideline throughout our service from beginning to end.

• Wearing masks is optional. We will have masks available for you to use if you need one. Masks should not be used on children under the age of 2.

• We will have offering plates set up in the vestibule. If you would like to give your offering you can place it in the offering plate before or after the service. We will not be passing the offering plate during the service.

• The bathrooms located directly behind the Sanctuary will be open. We ask that only one person enter the bathroom at one time unless you are escorting a child. We ask that children be escorted to the bathroom by their parent or guardian to ensure these guidelines are followed.

• We ask that you do not go into other parts of the church facility at this time.

• We ask that if you’re sick that you do not attend. We ask that if you’ve been around someone who has shown symptoms of COVID-19 in the past 14 days that you do not attend. We will record the service and make it available online.

• We ask that if you’re in the vulnerable category that you continue to shelter-in-place until the governor’s executive order is lifted on June 12th.

Following these guidelines will allow us to begin to safely gather in our building. As time goes on we will gradually restart our other activities. Please continue to pray for me and the deacons as we seek to make plans that are wise. I’m looking forward to seeing you all soon. In the meantime, let us continue to trust the Lord who is our refuge and strength and let us continue to represent Christ well to our city!

In Christ,

Pastor Ron Jones