Dear Members and Friends of Faith Congregation:
Good News! The Congregational Council would like to announce the resumption of in-person worship in our sanctuary beginning Sunday, September 19th at 10 a.m. As before, this resuming of worship at the Church will be subject to certain protocols for physical distancing and necessary sanitization and personal hygiene practices.
In accordance with Provincial regulations and Synod guidelines, attendance at worship is restricted to 30 per cent of seating capacity in order to ensure proper physical distancing. In our case, this means that seating will be limited to approximately 20 worshippers, plus the Pastor, Church Musician, worship assistants and ushers.
In order for us to be able to regulate attendance and the number of individuals participating in a grouping (couples and families, for example), we will again be using the online application (app) called “Eventbrite”. Details on how to make a reservation using this app are indicated below. Members who do not have access to the internet will be contacted, and a “booking buddy” can be arranged for them should they wish to make a reservation to attend a service.
The worship services will also be live-streamed so that they may be viewed at home in real time or viewed at a later time as a recording posted on YouTube. In order to protect personal privacy, efforts will be made to ensure that the video will not focus on individual worshippers in the audience – the camera will focus only on the Pastor, the reader and, possibly, the musician(s).
Prior to Registration
Please review the following COVID-19 Screening Tool for self-assessment and answer the questions for you and your family members who plan to attend the in-person service. If your result is “Do not go”, in our commitment to the health and safety of those present, we would ask that you refrain from joining in-person and opt to join us online at 10AM on Sunday at Online Services.
Guidelines
- Please bring a mask as you will be required to wear a mask at all times indoors (children under 2 are not required to wear masks).
- Please maintain two metres of physical distance between members of other households at all times.
- At the entrance, a greeter will welcome you, take your attendance, have you confirm your answers to the pre-screening questions. Please sanitize your hands prior to entering the Sanctuary. You do not have to provide a copy of your Eventbrite ticket.
- Our usher will help you find appropriate seating in the sanctuary to maintain adequate physical distancing. Please stay at your seats for the duration of the service and all children are requested to remain with their families.
- At the end of the worship service please wait until an usher directs you to exit the building. As you leave, please avoid congregating in high traffic areas. Those who wish to socialize can do so outside, physically distanced.
Initially, these are some of the protocols we will have in place:
- There will be no bulletins or hymn books, and the order of service and liturgy will be displayed on the overhead TV monitor.
- Compliant with Synod guidelines, there will be no congregational singing. The pastor and/or designated worship leader will sing parts of the liturgy/hymns, as appropriate.
- During Communion, only the bread will be distributed by the Pastor.
- Offerings will be welcomed by depositing them in offering plates placed at the entrance/exit door to the sanctuary.
We begin welcoming people back into the building in a fluid environment. Nevertheless, we are confident that working together and remaining flexible we can ensure a safe and meaningful worship experience. We look forward to enjoying the opportunity to worship together.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Cecily Skuce at 613-721-0278 or cecilyskuce@outlook.com.
Cecily Skuce, Chairperson, Resuming In-person Worship Committee
Registering to attend
Steps to follow in making an online reservation to attend a worship service at Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church during the COVID-19 pandemic:
- Go to the Eventbrite website:
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/faith-lutheran-church-service-registration-tickets-119340804559 - Click on the orange box labelled “Select a Date” and a new page will open.
- In the box to the right of the line “Faith Lutheran Church Service Registration Multiple Dates” select the date of the service you wish to attend and click the box marked Ticket beside it.
- A new page will open and in the drop down box select the number of attendees you are registering for. Once the number of participants has been selected, click on Register at the bottom. A new page entitled “Contact Information” will open. On that page, fill in the First and Last Name and email address of the applicant.
- Finally, click on “Register” at the bottom of that page. The Eventbrite ticket does not need to be printed off.
- On the day of the service, the usher/greeter at the Church door will record the names and contact information of your group as you arrive.
