In-Person Worship This Sunday
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Friends:
We have more information, concerning our resumption of live-worship at KPUMC this Sunday. Please read the following, because there are specifics you need to know, should you be planning to attend. Several things will be quite different about this worship service, from our “usual” in-person worship, and despite the unusual nature of it all, we want it to be a good experience for anyone who chooses to attend.
First, as we said last week, the resumption of in-person worship does NOT mean we are pushing you all to come in-person. If you are in any high-risk situation, we invite you to NOT come in-person. Many persons will continue to worship via livestream, and we are committed to continuing to livestream both now and in the future. For those of you who will continue to worship via livestream, nothing will change about the way you are finding/watching our service. (You’ll simply see us outside now…)
For those of you who will plan to come, some quick points about in-person worship for the next few weeks:
1. We will meet on the Colorado-side of the building.
Specifically, we will invite you to sit, facing the building, near the South side of the sanctuary.
2. We require *everyone* to remain masked throughout the service.
This is not negotiable, and we trust you understand why. (The only exceptions will be when leaders speak at a microphone. Anyone who cannot comply with this request will be asked to leave…)
3. We require everyone to sit six-feet from others.
You obviously are encouraged to sit in family groups, but we invite you to spread out in the grassy area and maintain social distance. We will have a sound system and a projector projecting the slides that will be seen on the livestream.
4. We invite you to bring your own camp/folding chairs or blankets.Blankets are perfectly acceptable, as are camp chairs. I myself will model this behavior by sitting in a camp chair from home. (We will have limited chairs, and sanitizer, available for those who simply do not have a chair they can bring). We hope you can understand why we are asking you to do this.
5. There will be NO printed bulletin.
We will utilize slides and a projector that will mirror the slides available on the livestream. Obviously, you may also print out a bulletin from the online worship page: https://kpumc.org/online-worship
6. Alternatively, consider bringing your own phone or tablet and consider downloading the worship guide there. On the online worship page, you will be able to download either the bulletin or the actual slides shown on the projector.
7. We will have three hand sanitizing stations available.
8. Persons over 65 or with high-risk conditions should consider not attending.
9. THIS SUNDAY ONLY: You are invited to bring your own “elements” (bread and wine) for communion.
It’s Communion Sunday, we will *not* be sharing communal elements together. We know that’s a lot to keep in mind, but I hope and trust you will see all this planning as an effort to keep you as safe as possible in this setting.
I know that’s a lot of information. And I apologize for all the burdens that these requests place on you and your family. But, I trust you understand our primary goal is to continue to “do noharm” in all that we do. If you have any questions concerning in-person worship, don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
Finally, I’d invite you to consider the journey we’ve been on these past few months. First, we started livestreaming from the sanctuary. Then, at the height of concern in Dallas, and with our own “scare” among worship leaders, we changed to “Zoom only” worship for some weeks. Now, we will resume outdoor worship, for as long as we believe we can do so safely. (Situations may well change again…)
I simply invite you to take in the flexibility that you have shown these past months, in terms of how we continue to worship God in this time. It’s actually a good metaphor for the future of our church. Whatever happens once we find our “new normal,” we will need to *continue* to show flexibility and adaptability in trying new things and new ministries, letting go of some more traditional ways of “being church.”
Things will continue to change, even once we are past the pandemic, and we have the opportunity to practice that nimbleness now, as we seek to reach God’s children in North Oak Cliff.
See you Sunday…either in person on online.
Grace and Peace,
Eric Folkerth