Dear Church Family,
We hope that this finds you all well as the weather is getting warmer and we can all begin to get outdoors and enjoy God’s glorious creation. If you have not already heard, we are excited to announce that we will be resuming in-person services this Sunday, June 7th. However, in order to make that happen we are making some adjustments so that we can gather in a way that will be safe and make others feel comfortable. Below are the important changes that we want you to be aware of:
Sunday Morning Services:
What you need to know before you Come:
- We will still have our two morning services at 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
- The first service will be mask mandatory and the second will be mask optional.
- If you forget your mask or don’t have one you can ask one of the ushers and they will be able to get one for you.
- Our two morning services will be limited to 50 people per service so we can maintain proper social distancing.
- The chairs will be distanced from each other in groups of two, but if your family is larger than two then you may push chairs together.
- Since space for each service is limited you and your family must sign-up for the particular service you would like to attend using the website Sign-up Genius.com. A sign-up link will be sent out via email on Monday of every week. It is first come first serve.
- If you are not tech savvy you may also email or call the church office and Jodi will sign you up.
- If you are scheduled to volunteer in one or both morning services you will be pre-registered for those services. However, the rest of your family must still sign-up for one of the morning services.
- Services are filled up on a first come first serve basis and we cannot go over the 50-person maximum. So if you would like to attend please sign-up as soon as possible.
- If you don’t sign-up and just walk in on a Sunday morning you may be seated if the sign-up is not full. However, if the sign-up is full, you will have to wait 5-7 minutes after service starts to see if someone doesn’t show up and a seat becomes available. If it doesn’t, we will have to ask you to leave but will give you the necessary information so you may sign-up for services in future weeks.
- If you are a family with little kids, please be advised that there will be no Sunday school for the entire summer. Also, the nursery will be closed June 7th and will reopen on June 14th, but only for the 10:30 a.m. service.
Note: If for some reason you are not feeling well, have been around people who have been experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, or are immune compromised, please stay home and join us through the LEFC livestream on Facebook or YouTube at 10:30 a.m.
What you need to know when you are here:
- While you are here, we would ask that all greetings be non-contact greetings.
- For health and safety purposes we will not do the normal greeting time at the beginning of our services.
- When you come into the church please find your seats as quickly as possible.
- We will not be passing the plate for offering so you can drop your offering in the offering box that is right inside the sanctuary doors.
- We will also not pass the communion plates so please grab your communion supplies from the table right outside of the sanctuary doors.
Note: We will not have communion in June but will resume our normal communion schedule on the first Sunday in July.
- Each morning service will be limited to an hour. This means that the announcements, sermon, and music portions of the service will be shortened.
- We are doing this to give people ample time to leave before the next group comes in, and it gives the ushers/cleaning team time to reset the sanctuary and sanitize the chairs, bathrooms, and other surfaces after each service. (With this in mind, please get here no earlier than 15 minutes before the service starts).
- If you do need to get up during service, we would ask that you try to limit where you go in the building.
- If you need to use the bathroom, please follow proper hand washing procedures and wash for a full 20 seconds.
- Hand sanitizers will also be available throughout the building.
- Once service is over, please exit the building as quickly as possible. The back rows will exit first followed by each successive row.
- We realize that people will want to stay and fellowship with one another, but we would ask that you do this either in the parking lot or grassy area out back.
Note: The kitchen, offices, and downstairs will be off limits unless you are authorized to be in those spaces. Also, all volunteers, including the person preaching will be temperature checked prior to the morning services.
We realize that these changes may feel like a lot, however, know that it is our desire to ensure the safety and comfort of those who attend LEFC. Also, realizing that people have different thoughts about the seriousness of this pandemic we would ask that each person work to love, serve, and respect one another when it comes to our differing comfort levels. As Philippians 2:3 says “…but in humility count others as more significant than yourselves.” Or as it says in Galatians 5:13, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
As your elders we are excited to see all of you and we are praising God that he has worked mightily so that we are able to meet. We are praying for you all and we look forward to seeing you this Sunday. If you have any questions about our reopening plan contact the church office and either Jodi or one of the elders will get back to you in a timely fashion. Until then, may God grant you peace and joy as you endure in faith during this trying time.
With much love,
The Elders