We are excited to be able to meet together as a church body to worship our Lord and Savior! However, meeting together will not look exactly like what we have done in the past. There will be some rules and procedures in place to make sure that we keep everyone in our congregation safe and to ensure that we adhere to the guidelines we have been given so we can continue to gather together in worship. We as elders and deacons have been and are praying for the Lord’s wisdom and guidance through this, and some of these policies may need to change and be updated as our guidelines change. We will keep you informed of any changes.
· Our Worship Center can host 50 people for Sunday services. If you are interested in attending worship services in person, please let us know ahead of time by emailing info@hutchefree.org. Livestream will also be available.
· If anyone in your household has been knowingly exposed to someone with COVID 19 please observe your 14 day self-quarantine and join us online from home.
· If you are at higher risk for developing severe illness for any reason we would encourage you also to worship from home. We will continue to live stream our worship service and encourage those unable to attend to participate online.
· Please review Health Screening Checklist at the bottom of these guidelines prior to coming to church. If you answer “yes” to any of the 8 questions on the Checklist, we encourage you and your household to worship from home that week.
For those that are able to attend, we will have some safety procedures in place. There will be ushers or dedicated people to direct you to your seat once you arrive at church. There will be a hand sanitizing station inside of the door for everyone to use as they come in.
· Please observe social distancing with people from other households. Our church is a very social and loving group, but for now please forgo any handshakes and hugs that usually occur. 6 feet is the current distance, so if you can touch them, you’re too close!
· Masks will be strongly encouraged to enter the Worship Center. Please bring your own mask, but we plan to have some available for those who do not have one. We understand that younger children will not tolerate masks, and children under 2 should not wear masks.
· Households are encouraged to stay together, and to support this, we will not have children’s ministry available at this time.
· In light of the practice of social distancing and the guidelines against serving food and beverages, we will not observe a fellowship break in the middle of service.
· Communion will be available, but we will not be able to pass out the elements as we have in the past. Instead, individual communion cups will be available as you enter the Worship Center.
When the service is over, ushers will direct you on which door to exit from. The goal is to not bunch up! There will not be any social time inside the Worship Center after the service. If the weather is nice and you choose to socialize outside, please continue to practice of social distancing.
Please don’t look at these rules as a list of don’ts. Rather, please look at it as an opportunity to be together, worship our Lord and uplift each other!
At this time Sunday service may not be the most suitable place for fellowship and connection. Therefore, we would encourage you to be a part of a small group or fellowship group. If you would like to host or join a small group or fellowship group, email the church at info@hutchefree.org.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as we trust in him, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
