This coming Sunday, October 18, we will begin a return to in-person worship attendance in the church sanctuary. We will be implementing an incremental approach to this process.
For the next two weeks, members of the Board of Deacons (only) will be testing out the system that we are putting in place to facilitate a safe return to the sanctuary. This includes online sign ups to attend on a given Sunday and safety protocols for people who arrive on a Sunday morning.
November 1st will be our first Sunday to welcome parishioners who have signed up online to attend worship. The ceiling for attendance that Sunday will be 15 people in total. This number will include all of those leading the service that day as well and the available seats will consequently be reflected on the sign up information ahead of time.
Each Sunday thereafter we will increase attendance numbers by five people each week until we reach a total of 25. We will hold at this number through the remainder of November during which time we will assess the system we have in place, public health data, and feedback we have received. Proceeding into December, we may elect to hold at this number, increase, or decrease our available attendance depending on best safety practices.
Throughout these changes and for the foreseeable future, we will continue to live stream the worship services as we have been doing.
We are very excited to be moving in this direction! It has been very difficult for many of our parishioners to not be able to worship in the Sanctuary and our worship team would also benefit from worshippers in the sanctuary for this sacred time. While this approach to a return to in-person worship may feel cumbersome at first due to extra steps that need to be taken ahead of time and upon arrival, we are hopeful that it will feel user-friendly over time so that any aspects that at first feel like hurdles to be overcome will soon become routine.
In the meantime, I want to thank everyone for their patience and flexibility as our church has navigated these unprecedented waters. Not only have we adapted rapidly to an online platform for Sunday morning worship and church meetings, we have also benefited from the congregation’s overall willingness to be kind and patient as we learn the ropes in this new era.
All of us who are working to keep FCC moving forward feel very supported and are enormously grateful!
In Christ,
–Rev. Dominic
fccmelrose.org 