April 15, 2021
My Dear Doubters of Great Faith,
A very happy and joyous Eastertide to you as we move more deeply into this season of celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! “Christ is alive, let Christians sing!” There is so much to celebrate as we live more fully into the Great Paschal Mystery over the course of the coming days, weeks, and months. Because Christ lives, God triumphs over death, and we too get to share in the great banquet feast of rebirth and eternal life!
The funny thing about mysteries, gifts, and we humans – they come with a bit of trepidation and fear, because there is so much that we don’t know, can’t see, or touch, or taste, or know, all the answers, well in advance (think Thomas!). How did this happen? Can it possibly be? Did our Jesus really surmount the forces of evil and death to rise victorious? Am I worthy to partake in those same joys?
How completely appropriate and timely that we are approaching our first in-person worship opportunities during this mysteriously joyous time! Our journey through the darkness of COVID-19 has not been unlike our own extended year of Holy Week. The promise of vaccines bring light at the end of a very long tunnel, and your worship team and leadership are making a way for you to be here, in person, together, finally!
Realizing that there is fear and trepidation with anything that is new, and different, and unknown, I want you to know exactly what you can expect as you make your way back to in-person worship, because as much good information as is possible will help to dispel the questions you may have, and will aid you in deciding how and when you join your church family in person.
First of all, in-person participants must register each week with Pam Liles, Parish Secretary (pam@thedoubter.org) so that we can plan for who will be attending worship services. The initial in-person worship service will be at 10:30 am on Sunday, in the Parish Hall, and we ask that you arrive in advance so that you may be seated by our ushers. The seating is spaced 6’ apart, according to CDC guidelines, and arrangements have been made for couples who are in the same “pod” to sit together. The Parish Hall air handlers have “air scrubbers” to help purify the air, and the doors to the Parish Hall will be open for cross-ventilation. (Which means that you will hear Love Field and Inwood traffic!)
The entrance to the Parish Hall will be the western-most door (from the breezeway), where your temperature will be taken. If you have a temperature above 100, you will be asked to leave. Masks will be provided at that point for those who have come unprepared. All attendees must be properly masked (covering nose and mouth), and this WILL be enforced at ALL times!
There will not be prayer books and hymnals. All materials necessary will be provided in a service leaflet. Spoken responses are encouraged; there will be no singing. There will be lectors who will read, unmasked, from the lectern, socially-distanced from the congregation.
Sermons and homilies will be presented, unmasked, from the lectern, again, socially-distanced from the congregation.
We will have music presented in the form of preludes and postludes, by our talented and capable Organist/Choir Master, Mr. Lee Corbin, as well as solos presented by different soloists each week. These will occur, unmasked, from a socially-distanced location at the rear of the Parish Hall.
The peace will be exchanged with visual signs between congregants, with no physical contact encouraged unless among those in the same “pods.”
There will be an offering collected by the ushers, who will pass among the congregation.
We will have the full Eucharistic mass, and ushers will direct individuals, in small numbers, to the front, to receive pre-packaged hosts from the celebrant (masked). Congregants will return to their seats to consume their hosts.
Restrooms will be available for use, but all other spaces of the physical plant will be off-limit at this time.
After dismissal, congregants may exit all glass doors of the Parish Hall to the parking lots.
Please find the attached photos to see what the space looks like set up for worship!
I know this probably seems awfully detailed, and, quite frankly, very sterile. However, I think if we are very particular about as many of these types of details, and if we can allay as many of your fears and trepidation as possible, we can engender a level of comfort that will help you to trust that we have done everything possible to insure each person’s safety and well-being. And that will make people want to come back, and others to come, because it says that we really do value our common life together.
That being said, as we do everything possible to insure your safety, at the end of the day, each one of us must make our own risk assessments based on the information that we have at any given moment in time. If you are comfortable coming to in-person worship, I give thanks! If you come, and see something that makes you uncomfortable, and decide to leave, that is perfectly acceptable as well. If you want to continue to worship on-line, hallelujah! (Please be reminded that Zoom is moving to 9 am!) All responses are acceptable.
Please reach out to me if you would like to discuss any of this. I really want everyone, all of us, to feel completely comfortable with the decisions we make. I can absolutely guarantee that we will make mistakes along the way as we figure out this next step, but I can also assure you that we are all working diligently together, to find our way back together, guided by God, our bishops, and science, to do what is in the very best interest of our family and community.
Everything that we do during this joyful Eastertide should be bathed in mercy, grace, and gratitude!
For it is really true:
Alleluia, Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!
