If you missed the service on Sunday, then you also missed the announcement that we will hold our first in-person service at First Presbyterian this Sunday, June 28th at 9:30 a.m. The time change from 10:30 to 9:30 is because we will be meeting outside and we want to avoid the heat as much as possible! These are the two major changes (time and location) to our service, but there will also be other modifications in order to reduce the inherent risk of meeting in-person while COVID-19 is still on the loose.
As our understanding of COVID-19 continues to develop, so do the guidelines associated with the virus. We are currently in compliance with both the Arkansas and Benton County guidelines and are taking a conservative approach, in relation to those guidelines, towards resuming our in-person services and activities. The COVID Commission will, however, continue to monitor the situation and recommend changes to our current plan should the circumstances in Arkansas, especially Benton and Washington counties, make such changes necessary.
As part of our return to in-person services, we will be observing strict social distancing and ask everyone 10 years and older who attends in-person to wear a mask. If you are sick or are experiencing any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19 (a fever of 100.4 or higher in the past two days, cough, shortness of breath, etc.) then we would ask you to please remain at home. We are in conversation about the plan and timing for resuming CE classes, nursery, and young children’s worship, and look forward to sharing with you when and how those important elements of our life together will be resumed once it is safe to do so. Until then, we are pleased with the opportunity to worship together in person again.
The “front” of our outdoor sanctuary will be positioned at the southwest corner of the church’s property with seating available in both the grass and the parking lot outside of the church office, which will consequently be closed to any cars. The downstairs bathrooms will be open, but the rest of the building will be closed. Please observe social distancing inside of the building as well as outside. Please bring your own lawn chairs or blanket and position them six feet away from your neighbor. You may also want to bring a hat, sunglasses, water, or an umbrella for the sun. You will not need an umbrella for rain, however, because if rain is on the forecast for Sunday morning we will meet via Zoom as we have been doing for the past several months. You will receive an email on Saturday night if there are any changes due to weather.
While many will be meeting in person, we will continue to have the option to livestream the service from home for those of you who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 or are uncomfortable with meeting in-person just yet. The livestream will look differently than it has in recent weeks so please look out for details about how to participate in the livestream version of the service. These livestream details will be distributed in a separate email. The service will remain shortened as it has been for the Zoom services so that it does not become too long for those of you viewing from home. The bulletin that we create for those attending in-person will include all the lyrics and Scripture verses that will be used during the service, and a PDF version will be emailed out to everyone in advance should you be watching from home.
I look forward to not only sharing time with many of you, but also sharing space as well! If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at jonathan@fpcsiloam.com, our office administrator at info@fpcsiloam.com, or any of the elders currently serving on Session.
