Dear Church family,

As you know, over the past two months, because of the COVID surge and the high rates of hospitalizations in our area we have been requiring masks in both of our morning services while only making exceptions for health issues that are laid out in executive order 20-81. However, we as your elders have decided to go back to our previous masking requirements that we had put in place before the surge in cases and hospitalizations in our region. These protocols will begin this upcoming Sunday, February 7^th. We are doing this for two reasons.

1. Hospitalization rates in our region are in the green.
2. The COVID case trend in our area has been in a continual decline.

As a reminder, here is what our masking requirements will be for our two morning services. Again, these are based on what Minnesota has included in executive order 20-81.

• First service (9:00am): Will remain a mask mandatory service, and we would ask that people keep their masks on as much as possible during this time. However, those who are preaching or leading in song or not required to wear a mask while dispensing those duties.
• Second service (10:30am): We will be requiring everyone to wear a face mask while entering and exiting the building until you are seated in your group or outside of the building (unless you have an exemption as defined by section 8a-c of the executive order). Once you are seated, we recommend, if possible, that you keep your facemask on throughout the service. If you do not have a face mask, we will be able to provide you with one.
  • Children 2 and under should never wear a facemask and those who are 3-5years old are not required but encouraged to wear a mask if they can do so properly.

Note on 2^nd service: Like first service the worship team and speakers will not be wearing a mask while they are on the platform. Also, there are many circumstances laid out in the executive order where facemasks may be removed for a time. Though we recommend face masks while participating in our morning services we also realize that for some it will make active participation in our services difficult. In those situations, we will leave it up to individuals to decide whether they will remove their mask or not. (See sections 8a-c, 10a-k of the executive order for more information)

• If you do need to get up during service, we would ask that you wear a mask and try to limit where you go in the building. If you are using the bathroom, please follow proper hand washing procedures and wash for a full 20 seconds.

We are still asking that if you are sick you stay home. Also, if you are part of a high risk population, we would recommend that you stay home. We will still be live streaming our services and though it is not what we desire for people long term it is a safe alternative at this time for those in those two categories. If you have any questions, please contact one of the elders. We look forward to seeing all of you this Sunday.

Blessings,

John Young

Dan Cravillion

Ryan Perry

Eric Mattie

Steve Thompson