Dear Fellow Parishioners, We were allowed to open our doors one year ago with safety precautions in place:
·Everyone is required to wear a mask while in the building ·Social distancing of six feet required between households Everyone enter the front door and exit the side doors to allow for one way traffic into and out of the building ·Everyone is to sign in upon entering for contact tracing ·Ushers need to count numbers as people enter so we don’t exceed permitted numbers ·Hand sanitizer is to be made available upon entry and before receiving communion
After a few weeks of watching the line for communion I noticed that people were simply lining up without social distancing. In order to keep everyone safe we decided to distribute communion to everyone in the pews. “Nobody moves, nobody gets hurt!”
I wish to thank everyone for cooperating with the precautions and guidelines that are for the protection of our community. Everyone has worked so well to keep everyone safe. To date we have had no “spreader events.”
Personally, I have made sure that everything is covered on the altar. Making sure that before I lift the body of Christ, I have sanitized my hands since I have been touching other surfaces. I have also made sure that when I speak, I hold the Eucharist above my head and point my mouth down so that there is no spittle coming on the host!
I bring this to your attention because several people have asked when we can increase the numbers we can hold in our church. Using the existing precautions, we can safely have 110 in attendance. I know our capacity is 500, however there has been no change in the precautions to date. When we do hear form the state and the Diocese, we may be able to increase capacity. In the meantime, I am hoping that we wait patiently until we receive further direction from people in the medical field regarding assembly in houses of worship.
We gather together for Mother’s Day Week, continue First Communions and celebrate the 50 days of the Easter Season. Since the weather is warming up, we will have coffee and outside, weather permitting!