Talk to Me
Faith, I need your input. I need your feedback. Our Administrative Council is meeting on July 7 to consider what our next steps of building re-entry need to look like. It is absolutely vital that I know how you are feeling about the safety of being back in our building, your willingness to commit to a volunteer role to help us open safely, what you need for your kids, etc. Please do click this link and take the online survey if you’ve not already done so. I really need everyone in your household (over 18) to take this survey. I’ve discovered that just because people live together doesn’t mean they feel the same way about the questions I’m asking on this survey. In order for us to make solid decisions about when and how to open the building and begin in person worship, we really MUST be able to gauge your readiness.
Last week, I told you we are planning a pivot toward more activities outside. We have our next outdoor worship service planned for Sunday, July 5 at 8:00 am. We need to meet early to beat the heat. Please pray for good weather. We don’t have a rain plan, so if it’s raining we will cancel. We will communicate cancellation on our Facebook page and on this weekly email list. If you don’t hear from us, assume we are having the worship service. We will be receiving Holy Communion during the outdoor worship service. Please bring your own Communion elements. You can expect the service will feel much like our previous outdoor worship experience…music, singing (lyrics on the Faith App), scripture reading and preaching, prayers of the people, and blessing of the elements so we can receive Communion together. It will take about an hour. Many of the Sunday School classes are planning to meet after worship by circling up their chairs in a cool, shady spot. We won’t have Sunday School classes meeting in the building that Sunday, but we will have a livestream worship service available at 11:00, just like always. We’ll be receiving Communion during our online time of worship as well. Important: the building will be available for a quick restroom break at the end of worship, before Sunday School classes begin meeting. Please do plan to keep at least six feet of distance between you and anyone not in your household.
Back to the building re-opening plans. I need to share with you three different variables that are impacting our decision on when and how to safely re-open for in person worship. The first and most important variable is the rising number of infections in Tulsa County. Many have asked me where I get my numbers and I would recommend you go to this link on the Tulsa Health Department’s website for daily tallies on the numbers of infection in our county. In addition, here is a link to the news conference held by the City of Tulsa on Wednesday. Our public officials are noting the concerning trends. These trends are pushing us to consider a later re-entry than we had planned.
There are two other variables influencing our decision. First, I’ve been reaching out to those who served on our previous Sunday morning volunteer teams to find out if: 1) they are willing to come back to the building and 2) they are willing to serve in a volunteer role to help us open safely. About 1 out of 4 people tell me they are ready to come back for in person worship and would be willing to help. Those who want to help prefer to serve for one worship service — meaning we'll need twice the volunteers in order to support two services. Folks also say their preferred frequency is once a month. So, we’ll need about 80 different folks to safely open with all the different teams we need. We currently have about 20 people ready to come back and serve. I hesitate to proceed toward opening for in person worship when we just don’t have the committed volunteers to know we can do this well and safely.
Second, we have crossed all the hurdles in deciding to replace our sound system. This capital investment will allow us to provide much better sound coverage for those in our sanctuary (important because now we need to be able to spread out) and a better audio experience for those joining us on our livestream. All that remains is the arrival of the components we’ve ordered (they are custom designed and built) and the installation. This process will likely take us through the latter part of July. To have this accomplishment finished will make entry back into the sanctuary much easier. We can be back in the sanctuary earlier, but it will be better if we can wait.
All of these factors influence our readiness to be back in the building. But, before I go any further, let me say again, safety is our highest priority. Faith, it really matters to me and to all of your staff that you are safe. We’ve all invested much — even being willing to give up a lot of what we held dear with each other — so that we could be church together in safe ways. As the situation on the ground changes, we are adjusting in response so we can continue to offer each other a safe way and place to share our lives together.
Last week, I told you that we are making a pivot toward more outdoor activities — knowing that the risk of infection is so much less when we are outside. You’ve already heard about our next outdoor worship service on July 5. Perhaps you’ve also heard about Pastor Heather’s Hiking group that meets on Saturday mornings. If you are interested in joining that group, be sure you email Pastor Heather to get the information on when and where they will be meeting. Our discipleship staff are scheduling curbside conversations for families with kids and youth. Click here to make an appointment for them to come by and visit with your family — safely distanced, of course. We are also gearing up for two of our favorite traditions: VBS and Youth Week. Stay tuned for more information about how we will be inviting the whole church to join with us in these two events.
If you haven’t already taken the survey about your readiness to be back in the building, do that now. I really do need your feedback. Know that I’m praying for you and for our congregation as we navigate these uncharted waters, learning new ways to invite people to Christ-centered service.
May the peace of Christ be with you,
Pastor Charla
