COFFEE HOUR COVID PROTOCOL
As I’m sure you are aware, the risks associated with Covid 19 are present in any of our routines of life. No one goes to work or to the grocery store without some risk. A certain level of risk is inherent whenever we gather at church as well. Throughout the pandemic we have tried to make wise decisions to balance the congregation’s safety alongside the need to gather for worship and ministry. So far we have been successful in doing so without incident and fully intend to continue with this vigilance as we move forward.
As you know we have employed a number of levels of safety whenever we gather at church. One of the ways we have mitigated risk has been to open the windows to create ventilation during our services. While this may have been a bit uncomfortable for those sitting near the windows, we believe it has helped us to be able to gather safely for worship. Another form of risk mitigation is temperature checking and asking people to stay home when they are sick. A third measure we have employed is keeping safe distance from one another. We have purposely created safe distance by utilizing every other pew. We have also offered hand sanitizer at several locations in the church for the same purpose. And finally, we have mitigated the risk of virus spread by wearing face masks.
All of these measures have collectively helped us to assemble and worship without the spread of Covid within our church body. And we are grateful to the Lord for his protection over the congregation as we employed these tactics. But now, with the present availability of vaccinations, we have an even greater weapon in the fight against this pandemic and the mitigation of the risk of it spreading. Last summer and fall and into January and February of 2021, vaccines were unavailable for most of us, but now they are and many of our people are taking advantage of them and the protection they afford. The State of CT now boasts we are second in the country for population vaccinated, with nearly one third of all CT residents now fully immunized. I would encourage any who are still on the fence to consider getting vaccinated not only as a safety measure personally, but also as a means to provide an additional layer of risk mitigation for the congregation.
Lately as you know, we have re-initiated Coffee Hour to give us opportunity to interact with each other after service. It was absolutely wonderful this past Sunday to stay after the service to have the opportunity to greet our guests and enjoy coffee and snacks with each other. Our intention is to continue Coffee Hour weekly going forward. We will hold it outside as weather permits, but move inside for inclement weather. We believe Coffee Hour as a great start to help us regain the sense of community we have lost over the past year, while also offering us the opportunity to interact with visitors and some of our newer attendees.
And while all that is positive for sure, we still need to be honest about risk and how to continue to mitigate it going forward. Many in the congregation are now fully vaccinated, and more becoming so with each passing week, and while vaccinations on their own are a good step in risk mitigation, our intention is to continue with the majority of other precautions we already have in place. With the addition of Coffee Hour however, we must allow for some change to the mandatory mask wearing precaution.
When we are outdoors a great deal of the risk of transfer is mitigated by the volume of natural air flow. While no one would go so far as to say impossible, gathering outdoors while retaining social distance protocols, greatly limits the virus’ capability to transfer. So we feel good about creating a protocol that allows for the removing of our masks when outdoors as long as social distances are kept. This of course allows for drinking coffee, other beverages, and snacks. When weather forces us indoors, our intention is to benefit from the natural outside air flow by opening up all available doors and windows in the café and in Dexter hall. By using both halls we believe we can also create the safe distances helpful for risk mitigation. While indoor present mask requirements can’t be completely alleviated, we ask that everyone use common sense as they lower masks to eat and drink and pull them back into place when done.
As with anything we do today, there is a risk associated, but with all things considered, we believe we are maintaining an environment where we can gather as the church, enjoy fellowship and connection with one another, while continuing to mitigate the risk of virus transfer. While the mask precaution will be lifted for outdoor Coffee Hour, it will remain as a requirement for worship services. We will continue to evaluate this precaution and follow State requirements, but as more of our congregation is vaccinated, and the numbers improve in our state, we hope to eventually see the mask restriction for our indoor gatherings and worship services lifted as well.
For any who feel cautious about not wearing their masks outdoors, we encourage you to continue to do so. We are simply removing the mandate for everyone to wear them. Anyone who wishes to continue wearing a mask should feel encouraged to do so. We pray these modifications will offer us a bit more freedom and connection to one another and some hope that this first phase of the pandemic is coming to a close and there is light at the end.
May the Lord bless us, and keep us in his mighty hands
Pastor Ray