Congratulations, graduates!
7/21/2019: Games We Play: MONOPOLY
This sermon explores lessons from one of the most popular board games of all time (and one of the hardest to actually win): Monopoly. How can we get off the game board of this world so focused on riches and winning and live by a different, more purposeful set of values?
2/3/2019: The Bible as Story: IN A WORLD OF WORRY
This week’s sermon explores Jesus’ seemingly impossible teaching telling us not to worry and to trust in God’s care. Is there anything more difficult for us nowadays? We will explore together just how we can follow this teaching to experience more of the life God would call us towards.
IN-PERSON SERVICES STARTING 10/4 (with virtual ongoing)
Dear Member and Friends,
Beginning on October 4, 2020, our worship schedule will include limited in-person worship in the sanctuary at 10:00 AM in addition to our virtual services. These will continue to be offered and also at 10 AM through Facebook Live. If you’re not comfortable being indoors or with a large group, we understand. Please choose the worship experience that works best for you and your family. In order to attend the in-person services, everyone will be required to sign up using the link provided below.
Please read carefully…
Before You Sign Up
Please consider guidance from the CDC to mitigate your risk in making your decision whether to attend in-person services. Please be guided by having each member of your family respond to the following questions…
- Have you experienced possible COVID symptoms in the last 14 days? These include fever, chills, a new cough, difficulty breathing, a new sore throat, new muscle aches, a new headache, or new loss of smell or taste?
- Have you or a close contact returned from travel in another state (not for work commute) in the last 14 days? In this travel, were you exposed to unsafe conditions for transmission of the virus?
- Have you had close contact with or cared for someone diagnosed with COVID-19 in the last 14 days or are currently waiting for test results?
If you answer yes to any of these questions, you’ll need to stay home, and we invite you to worship online.
Click here to sign up.
If you or anyone else you know is interested, you can also call the church office to reserve your spot at (410) 974-1713 by the Friday before the Sunday service you are interested in attending.
What to Expect
Worship in the sanctuary will include scripture, sermon, prayer and music, but it will look different for a while and some details may change from week to week as we learn from our experience. Attendance will be limited to 25 persons in addition to our worship staff (minister, musician, Lay Reader, Media Specialist).
MASKS WILL BE REQUIRED.
Worship will be a ‘no-contact’ experience.
- Sign in for tracking
- Doors will be propped or held open for you.
- There will be no hymnals or visitor sign-in books.
- The printed order of service will be placed on chairs on Fridays before the service.
- The offering plates will be placed at the back of the sanctuary and not passed during worship.
- We will have modified communion in worship in the sanctuary at this time including wafers that are prepackaged and no juice.
When You Arrive
Worship begins at 10 AM. Plan to arrive in the parking lot between 9:45 AM and 9:55 AM to give everyone a chance to check in. Consider leaving an empty space between vehicles. There will be plenty of space in the main parking lot or in the Harbour School parking lot.
Check in with a greeter at the front door. They will ask you to put on your required face covering.
All attendees are encouraged to wash or sanitize your hands when you enter the building (and again when you leave the building). Hand sanitizers are available on the counter in the Narthex next to the door.
Inside the Narthex
Please maintain 6 feet distance between your household and other households.
Ushers will seat family groups beginning at the front of the sanctuary. Only members of the same household can sit together, and should maintain a distance of at least six feet from other households or individuals. Please plan to remain in your assigned seats.
At the End of the Worship Service
Please wait until an usher dismisses you from the sanctuary (from rear seat to front seats) and then leave the building promptly. As you leave worship, please maintain physical distancing, sanitize your hands and keep your face covering in place.
F A Q
How often can I sign up?
We want to be able to offer this experience to as many interested people as we can, and we encourage you to consider signing up for just one Sunday a month to start and to check the sign up regularly for open spots closer to each Sunday.
What about my children?
Include your children in your sign up.
Plan to keep your children with you for the children’s message and throughout the worship service. Children must remain with their families at all times, and classrooms will not be open for play. Children over the age of 2 must remain masked while in the building.
There will not be toys or other materials for children available, so please bring whatever items your child might need during worship.
How do these guidelines relate to our faith?
We can consider our faith as both a vertical and horizontal relationship. The vertical relationship is our relationship with God and the horizontal is our relationship with each other. Our faith is very much about our relationship with God. But as Jesus said, it’s just as much about our relationship with each other. So our desire to follow these guidelines is for the sake of people we care for, looking out for their good. We all have choices to make but each one of us wants to do our best to keep other people safe and healthy, and that’s why we’re following the guidelines.
Please do not hesitate to contact the Church Office if you have questions at 410-874-1713.
Sincerely,
Christ Our Anchor Presbyterian Church
Reopening Task Force