Dear FPC members and friends,
I hope this newsletter finds you and your family safe and well. As the air turns crisp and cool and the leaves change color, we shift to the traditions of fall. Hearty soup, mums, fireside chats, hayrides, pumpkins, apple cider and doughnuts, and football are some of the joys of the season. In addition, this fall, as we begin to offer an in-person option for worship in the sanctuary at FPC beginning October 4, there are a few important changes you need to be aware of to safely join us.
It will be wonderful to see some of you again in person to celebrate World Communion Sunday! Keeping safety as the top priority, please bring your own mask, print your bulletin at home if possible, and bring your own communion elements (cracker or bread, grape juice, or water). Please plan to arrive at 9 a.m., staying socially distanced, and entering only through the playground entrance to the building. There you may use hand sanitizer while signing in, agree to the Gathering Covenant, and find your seat in the sanctuary in time for the 9:20 a.m. start of the prelude. To prevent the spread of the virus, while in worship there will be no responsive readings, singing, passing of the peace, or fellowship afterwards. There are new wooden offering boxes mounted on the front wall under the exit signs in the sanctuary where, at the end of the service, you are invited to place your offering envelopes.
Please remember, especially for those in higher risk categories, our online Facebook live stream option will continue, so that if you are not well or are not yet ready to venture out to gather inside of a building, you may still be an active part of our worshiping community going forward.
A special word of thanks to the staff, Property Management and Worship Committees, Clerk of Session, and Session who have worked hard to put our new safety protocols in place so that we can “love our neighbor as ourselves,” as we come back together. Please know that your compliance with the established guidelines is of the upmost importance in assuring that we can continue the in-person option for worship through the fall. We pray that a virus resurgence will be avoided and that eventually a vaccine will make it possible for us to gather in what we remember to be a more normal way. Please let me know if you have further questions before returning to worship. Together we will learn new ways to make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the Earth. Hallelujah!
Blessings,
Rev. Amy