Dear Idaville Church Family:
The board met on Sunday, June 14, 2020 for our regular monthly meeting. We finalized plans for reopening the church for the worship service only on Sunday, June 21, 2020, 10:15 am, with some precautions. We are so excited to be able meet together again and to see everyone. The purpose of this letter is to help you understand what you can expect when you return to church. We want to let you know that there is no pressure to join the reopening of the church. We want you to engage as you feel comfortable. We will continue to provide the live stream on our Facebook page and website. CDs will continue to be made for those who are not online. We will not be enforcing social distancing. We want to encourage social distancing, so if you would like to fellowship, before or after the service, we would ask you to do so outside (weather permitting) instead of congregating in the sanctuary and foyer. Pastor Stuart will be greeting everyone outside (weather permitting) instead of at the back of the sanctuary, following the service. You can watch a short video clip about this by clicking here.
Face masks – We realize that there are two extremes when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the wearing of face masks will be at the discretion of each individual. Please extend grace to those who approach the use of face masks differently from you.
Entering the Church – We are asking everyone to enter through the main entrance and the middle entrance (they both feed into the foyer). Greeters will be stationed at both entrances to open the door for you, to limit physical contact with high-impact areas. This is an effort to help protect everyone. The gym entrance will be locked. Watch a short video about entering the church by clicking here.
Hand sanitizer – Hand sanitizer pumps will be provided in the restrooms and multiple locations in the foyer. Everyone is welcome to bring their own hand sanitizer, also. Click here to watch a video
Bulletins – We are going to provide “self-serve” bulletins on the table directly outside the sanctuary. You are also welcome to download the bulletin from the Friday Email Update and bring a copy along to church. To watch a video about the location of the bulletins, please click here.
Offering – We will not be passing the offering plates, so two offering lock boxes have been mounted in the foyer. One is inside the middle-entrance doors. The other is mounted directly beside the bulletin board that leads to the bathroom at the back of the sanctuary. Communication Cards can also be place in these two lock boxes. To watch a video that shows the two locations of the offering lock boxes, click here.
Cleaning of the facility – The entire facility is cleaned by our custodians, every week, prior to the weekend. Special attention will be given to high-impact areas (back of pews, door handles, etc.). Clorox wipes will be provided in each bathroom for those who would like to take extra precautions.
Coffee/Fellowship Time – There will not be any coffee/fellowship time in the gym prior to the worship service.
Sunday School – We will not be having Sunday school initially. Restarting Sunday school will be evaluated and discussed at the July 12, 2020 board meeting. The children’s wing and hallway are currently closed due to some improvements that are being made (watch a short video about this by clicking here). The improvements will not be completed by June 21, 2020.
Nursery – Improvements are being made to the nursery right now, so it is currently closed. A changing table will be provided in the hallway by the two downstairs bathrooms (watch a video by clicking here). Once the improvements are completed, the nursery will be available for parents, but will not initially be manned by volunteers.
Children’s Church – We are going to provide children’s church for 3-year olds through 2nd grade in the pavilion outside. If it is raining, the children will be staying in the sanctuary during the worship service. We are offering this, but it will be at the discretion of the parents if they want their child(ren) to participate.
Zoom Foyer – We have been providing this online opportunity for individuals to connect with each other and the pastors. It has been a good way for us to pray together and catch up. The Zoom foyer will no longer be available, beginning June 21, 2020.
Wednesday Evening – We are going to provide one service for all ages on Wednesday evenings in the sanctuary, beginning June 24, 2020. The worship-based prayer service will continue to be live streamed on our Facebook page and website. The board will be reevaluating the start of the youth and children’s ministry activities during the July 12, 2020 meeting.
Campfire Church – We realize that some individuals will not feel comfortable returning to the physical church building right away. As an alternative to Sunday morning worship, we will continue to provide Campfire Church through the summer months.
Worship Service – We encourage everyone to sit where they feel comfortable (there will not be ushers seating you and every pew will be open). We will be participating in corporate worship/singing. The personal testimony time will be suspended initially. Watch a short video by clicking here.
If you are experiencing any kind of illness, we would encourage you to stay home. The live stream will continue to happen and we will provide CDs for those not online.
We really appreciate your grace and mercy as the board has had to wrestle with bringing balance from two extreme viewpoints. I want to encourage everyone to thank the leadership team for their hard work, creativity, feedback, and leadership during this unusual time. They have been invaluable! Please know that reopening the church is a dynamic, flowing situation that will require leadership to evaluate how things have gone each week. We appreciate your feedback, but would ask that it be given with love and grace.
In His Grip,
