COVID-19 Updates
April 30, 2020
Dear Brothers and Sisters of Grace Covenant Church,
Beloved, we pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul (3 John 2). We wanted to inform you that in light of the current trend of the coronavirus in our area, we believe that the threat of danger to our congregation to be less serious than we first thought. We believe we may reinstate corporate worship once again (with precautionary measures in place) without placing our congregation in harm’s way. Therefore, your pastors believe it to be acceptable for us to begin holding worship services again starting this Sunday, May 3, at 10:30 am.
According to regulations from our state officials, we need to follow the recommended guidelines laid out, especially in regard to the washing of hands and social distancing. The steps that we will be taking are out of love for our Lord God who is worthy of our corporate worship, love for fellow church members and neighbors, and submission to our governing authorities. Consequently, we will resume our corporate worship this Sunday, May 3, but with the following precautions:
We will begin by holding our 10:30 am worship service and 5:00 pm prayer service only. Sunday school will not be restarted just yet.
The church facility will be thoroughly sanitized before the worship service.
We would urge those who are in any way compromised in their immune systems to carefully consider whether they should attend. We will continue to live stream the service for those who are concerned because of health issues.
Also, if you or someone in your family has a cough, runny nose, slight fever, etc. we strongly urge you not to attend, but to watch the service on live stream.
We would ask that as difficult as it may be, that we abstain from handshaking and hugs in order to maintain the 6-foot distance requirement.
After the service, we would ask you to not linger in the sanctuary so as not to violate the social distancing measures. The weather is warming up and so it is better if you go outside and interact with people out in the fresh air. That will also allow the children to run off some of their energy.
Parents, we ask that you keep your children with you at all times while inside the church facility. One of the concerns identified is that a person can be a carrier without showing symptoms. This is especially true for younger people. Thus, we want families to stay together as much as possible.
Participation in the Lord’s table will follow the same procedure we recently used with people coming up to the front where the elders and deacons will distribute the bread and wine in individual containers.
We will not be passing the offering bags during the service. Instead, we encourage you to place any offerings you bring in the box at the back of the room either before or after the service.
We know that the adjustments we are making are going to be inconvenient for some. We encourage you to ask God for the flexibility needed to make it through this time. We also need to ask God to give us the grace to give preference to one another (Romans 12:10). If any of you personally believe it is still too risky to come out for our worship service, even with the above listed precautions in place, we understand and support your decision to stay home. Please continue to pray for us as your elders, for our church family, for our governmental leaders, and for those who have been personally affected by this pandemic. We look forward to worshipping together as a corporate body once again.
With love in Christ,
Pastors John and Rob
“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? ...These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.” Psalm 42:1-2, 4
For more information about the Coronavirus, visit the Centers for Disease Control.