letter from Pastor Elliott concerning reopening amidst covid-19
Dear WPC Family,
I write to you with news concerning WPC’s re-opening.
Over the past several weeks, the subcommittees of Session (our board of elders) have met to prayerfully and carefully discuss the many questions pertaining to our re-opening.
I am glad to report that Tuesday night, May 26th, the Session met and unanimously agreed to a plan that will bring us together for worship on Sunday mornings.
Although some churches are currently opening their sanctuaries up to the public, WPC will take a more cautious approach: We will re-open in phases.
The first phase of our re-opening will be an outdoor worship service commencing Sunday, June 14th from 10-11 AM.
What will this service look like?
Many of you, during this time of quarantine, have enjoyed the drive-in movie theaters. We envision a similar model for our outdoor worship service:
The worship service will be led by the pastors and worship leaders from the bed of a flatbed trailer, parked at the entrance of the FMC. This will give you visibility of the worship leadership.
The service will include the reading of scripture, the preaching of the Word, praise songs and hymns, prayers, creeds, and the receiving of offerings.
The north parking lot will be utilized as the main gathering area for church members and guests.
We will broadcast the service via an FM transmitter. You will be able to tune into the music and the message on your vehicle’s radio.
Members and guests will be invited to remain in their cars for the service. Robison Park will be open for those who need to stretch their legs and get some fresh air. We ask only that those utilizing the park maintain social distance guidelines.
The playground will be open for Pre-K age children accompanied by a parent. There will be no programmatic offerings, but we will distribute bulletins and worship activity bags for younger children.
The FMC lobby restrooms will be open for use and will be sanitized by our facilities staff on-schedule throughout the morning.
Ushers and greeters will help facilitate traffic flow and parking direction. We will continue in this format every Sunday through June and July and anticipate concluding the format on Sunday, July 26th, but the timing of returning to the sanctuary will be evaluated at the June and July meetings of session.
We hope that you will join us as we gather in this new way until we can re-gather in the sanctuary.
