Here is a letter we sent out last week in regards to our soft opening plan. In case you were wondering, or you are not on our mailing list.
To Our Family of Families,
Over the course of the past several months your staff at Church of God of Exeter has been examining the possibility of reopening our church facility for the purpose of gathering together again as a family to bring honor and glory to God together as one in person, and all though we are not in agreement as to an official plan or date we have decided to move forward with the following understanding unanimous agreement on this matter is not something we will likely find.
It is hoped we can begin the process of a soft opening in the near future on July 5th, which is the first Sunday of the month of July. This is our hope and can be subject to change should the various circumstances surrounding the choosing of this day change. However, if this day of opening was to change we would contact you as promptly as possible to let you know.
As has been the case since the beginning of this virus and when we first decided to close our church facility you and your family’s safety has been our utmost concern. We wanted to be sure to provide as safe of an environment as possible for you and your family to come to worship the Lord in. With this being said, we are as stated above seeking to have a soft opening before we fully return to what would be considered a semblance of normal understanding normal will honestly never be normal again.
Attached to this letter are guidelines we will be instituting as we take this step of a soft opening. We want to stress if you are not comfortable with following these guidelines or attending service physically. It is perfectly okay. We will still provide live streams of our Sunday Celebration Service and DVDs and CDs as are needed for these services. These three things will not discontinue, and it is our hope to continue them even when we begin to meet again with little to no restrictions.
Pastor Brandon Zoll
SOFT OPENING RESTRICTIONS AND SAFETY MEASURES
SEATING ARRANGEMENTS
Seating set up as we slowly and safely step back into our church facility together will change. Our seating arrangement in the church we be more conducive to social distancing standards. Providing family units the ability to sit together as a family unit while maintaining recommended safe distances from other family units. We will have seats arranged in groups of 6’s, 4’s, 2’s, and even some single chairs all groups properly spaced apart per CDC guidelines. We fully believe we will be able to accommodate the needed seating and bear in mind individual safety this way. At this time we will have no tables set up to help save space and encourage a social distancing environment.
MASKS
Due to recent guidelines given by our state government, we are going to need to requirer masks inside the facility. We also will have masks available for individuals in need.
PHYSICAL GREETINGS
During this phase of the soft open, we will ask you to refrain from any form of physical greetings. It is okay to say hello, to wave, and to air hug or air five, but please understand many may not be okay with physical contact quite yet. Please be mindful and respectful of others in this. In other words, if you must touch, ask before you touch. If you can refrain from touching, do so.
FAMILY DISCIPLESHIP & THE UNDERGROUND
During this period of soft opening, we will not immediately relaunch our Family Discipleship Program or The Underground (Youth Program) as these would make it nearly impossible to help family units not to be intermingled and to share their germs. However, we will continue to do these activities and studies online via Zoom, and we will continue to examine as we move forward when we can begin to participate in these programs again in person safely.
THE ORDINANCES: THE LORD’S SUPPER & BAPTISMS
We will for the most part refrain from the Lord’s Supper for the time being. However, if we decide to, we will be getting prepackaged communion cups. There will be no changes made to baptisms at this time.
SINGING OF PRAISES
We will be as always encouraging everyone who joins us in person or online to participate fully in the singing of praises. Meaning there will be no prohibitions on singing to and praising the Lord. Rather, it will be encouraged fully.
OFFERING
We will not have a formal passing of an offering plate but will encourage people to put their offerings in the secure offering boxes along the wall we already have in place on their way in and out of the church building.
COFFEE & TEA BAR
We will still be providing coffee at the coffee bar. We ask only one person at a time to approach the coffee and tea bar bearing social distancing in mind. During this time we will serve all drinks from behind the counter. Also, at this time during our soft opening, we will not be serving food items in the coffee bar such as donuts & snacks. Please do not bring in or donate items as such for others during this period, as we will not be able to serve them.
NURSERY SERVICES
Our current nursery services we provide will be changing during this period of our soft opening. The nursery rooms will be open for parents to take their younger child under the age of four into as a cry room, which is a space for if your child needs space to just be a kid, or you need space to take care of your baby’s diaper, feeding, and etc. You will be able to take them into one of our three rooms with you for this special private space. We have multiple nursery rooms and still encourage you to practice social distancing. On top of this, our nursery rooms are all equipped with TV’s that will be streaming the service. We encourage you to use this space for only children under four, but we understand family dynamics may require you to use it for older children as well.
GREETERS & USHERS
Our greeting and ushers ministry will definitely look different during this period of soft opening. In particular, they will be wearing masks and avoiding physical contact. However, they will still be available to you for assistance, direction, and safety.
TIME OF GREETING & FAMILY PRAYER
During the soft opening phase we will not have our traditional time of greeting one another nor will we be gathering into smaller groups for family prayer. However, we will do these things in a nonphysical socially distancing way.
OTHER PRECAUTIONS & STRATEGIES
We would like to assure you Revival Cleaning Services has properly and extensively cleaned and sanitized the facilities and will continue to do so week after week during this period of soft opening. We have also been able to purchase hand sanitizing stations, which we will request for you and your family to use upon entering and exiting the facility.
