Re-Entry Committee Update - Week of 5/3/21
Hello from the Re-Entry Committee! We are a special group established by the Vestry to focus on how the congregation can return to church safely in the weeks and months ahead. Decisions about when and how to re-open are ultimately up to the Vestry, but whatever plan they approve must also receive Diocesan approval and adhere to federal, state, and local regulations. Our committee members are helping to create plans and proposals for Vestry to approve. Going forward we will be providing updates - sometime short, sometimes longer - on a weekly basis through the newsletter and other forms of communication as necessary.
WHAT’S BEEN DONE SO FAR?
The committee has met 5 times in the past several weeks and includes members of Vestry (Sally Griffith, Simson Hui, Greg Maughan). Recent additions also include staff (Soozung Rankin), a parishioner with medical/public health knowledge (Ashley Ritter) and the Wardens and Clergy, as they are able to attend.
At the end of April, we presented recommendations to the Vestry outlining metrics we believe should be used alongside government and diocesan rules to determine when it is safe to invite the congregation back to the sanctuary for services. From this initial presentation we are currently refining our proposed plan based on feedback we have received, and changes announced by Governor Wolf this week. Before the next Vestry meeting (May 25th) we also expect to receive additional guidance from the Diocese and new guidance from the City Health Commissioner.
We anticipate that in-person services open to the congregation will resume in the summer, when the daily rate of new cases per 100,000 city residents, infection rate, and positive test rate have declined to levels the Vestry deems safe. These metrics are all currently moving in the right direction, and as a result we are moving thoughtfully and deliberately to complete an initial set of plans for what will be required and necessary to attend church together.
WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS?
Among the items we are researching and making recommendations for are:
- how to allow people to reserve a spot to attend the service and know where they will sit in advance
- how many members of the congregation we will need to help people safely enter and exit the church before and after services
- how to allow for various aspects of the service and events surrounding it like communion, singing, prayers for healing, children’s ministries, coffee hour, etc. to take place safely under current diocesan guidelines
Next week, we will be sharing a survey (in this newsletter, on social media, and via calls and texts) to solicit feedback from the congregation on these types of questions. We would appreciate your help in answering the survey when you receive it. Responses will be anonymous. Some of the data will be shared with the diocese, who have requested all congregations ask certain questions on the survey and report back to help with planning at the diocesan level.
HOW CAN I HELP?
First, provide your input! When we do return we will be learning and trying new things based on your feedback and adjust as needed while we all become familiar with being together again. Some plans will work, some will need changing after we actually try them. Each week we will strive to make things better than the week before. This will require everyone's help. We will be asking everyone who attends service to share responsibility for caring for each other and our sanctuary - this will probably take the form of being asked to complete one of many various tasks for a few minutes before, during, or after the service to welcome your fellow parishioners into the space, ensure they are being safe, or cleaning after the service is over to leave the sanctuary ready for further gatherings.
Before we open for the congregation at large, we are planning some tests at Sunday services and a few other special services in the remaining weeks of May - which will incorporate service participants (who have already been attending church in person since Easter), members of Vestry who will be asked to approve the plans we are testing, and volunteers who are eager to return to church and willing to have a "job" at the service to help ensure things run safely and smoothly with a congregation present. If you would like to be one of these volunteers, please reach out and let us know. We would be excited to welcome you to a service to help this month.
Stay tuned for more detail and a potential timeline for return, and please respond to the survey next week. We all long to gather together in person again, and we are taking steps to make this happen safely for our church family.
