June 2, 2021
Dear Friends and Members of St Bartholomew’s Church,
This coming Sunday we will be worshipping in-person for the first time since the COVID-19 restrictions began. I did invite a small number of people to join Wayne and myself in the sanctuary on Sunday for a trial run, and we learned some valuable lessons from that. Today I want to write about how this new way of worshipping, both in-person and on-line, will work and hopefully make it happen more smoothly.
First of all, do not expect everything to be as it was 15 months ago. If you do, you will be disappointed. It’s not simply that there will be a different priest behind the altar, but the layout of the church is a little different. We will be asking you to observe social distancing and wear a mask throughout. We are not making it a requirement to be vaccinated, as setting up that kind of two-tier system is not the way of the Episcopal Church. So, even though I know that most of our congregation are vaccinated, it is possible that we will have unvaccinated people present.
The seating has been re-arranged to allow for social distancing. (The missing chairs are stacked in the library.) So when you take your seat please leave at least 2 empty spaces between yourself and anyone not in your own household. Please do not remove your mask, except for receiving communion. Keep it on for reading and singing.
When you enter the church, there is a table in the Narthex with spare masks, hand sanitizers and wipes. There will also be copies of the service bulletin and hymn sheet for you to take. The prayer books and hymnals have been removed so that we do not handle paper that others have handled. You are welcome to bring your own books and take them home afterwards. If you would like to borrow a church copy to do that then you may, but you will need to carry it back and forth every week.
The service will be broadcast on the internet live using Zoom and Facebook, and the recording will be available later on Facebook and YouTube, as has been the case in recent months. There is a large screen monitor in the sanctuary which will show the Zoom broadcast. That will make it possible for some people to take part reading lessons and prayers from their home. You should be able to see the readers on the screen and hear them through the church sound system.
Until now we have had one camera in church focused on the altar and lectern. This week I am going to also use my phone as an experiment to show additional views. I plan to be outside before the service to film the bell being rung, and then to place my phone near the altar so that we will include occasional views of the congregation. This doesn’t mean that you will be filmed throughout. I say that in case you’re worried about being filmed falling asleep during the sermon! (If you do that, it will, of course, say more about my preaching than about you!) Times when it might be particularly appropriate to show the congregation might include when I welcome you at the start, during the peace and when I give the dismissal from near the door.
Those reading in church should do so from the lectern, where the microphone will pick up your voice for the broadcast.
At the peace, please don’t move around the church, but greet people from where you are – wave rather than hug.
There will not be a collection at the Offertory, but there will be a collection plate somewhere near the door.
Communion will be given in one kind only. The House of Bishops has not yet agreed to restore the use of a common cup because of the risk of infection, and they have not approved the suggestion of using individual cups, as some denominations do. There will be a chalice on the altar, but I will be the only one to drink from it. Rather than use the communion rail I will give you the consecrated bread standing. Each wafer will be in a disposable paper cup. The altar guild use gloves when preparing them. So neither I nor they touch the wafer. I will stand in front of the altar. As you approach, please use the center aisle and observe social distancing. Hold out your hands, and I will tip the wafer into hands, so that it is only you who touch it. You can then return to your seat using the side aisle to avoid those coming forward.
As you leave please put your used bulletins straight into the recycle bin in the narthex, so that others do not need to handle them. We will not at this stage be holding a coffee hour.
Depending on the weather, I will probably be outside the church to greet you as you leave. For most of our congregation this will be the first time I meet you in person, and I’m looking forward to it. I hope you will understand my caution in keeping social distance and remaining masked. Like many of us, I have lost family and friends to COVID, and I want to do everything possible to avoid inadvertently or unknowingly passing it on to anyone else or catching it myself. I am also very thankful to be part of a church that has accepted the limitations that the pandemic has brought, and not sought to meet together earlier.
Your friend and priest,
Hugh James
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