June 18, 2020
Greetings People of God,
Thank goodness the church has never closed as the church is all of us as God’s people with all of our many gifts and talents and living out the great commission in Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. We are excited to resume in person worship services and continue to plan out of care and safety for all neighbors by giving options for all people to participate in the work of God’s kingdom. We want to be sure that everybody is included. Our church council will continue to monitor the situation around COVID 19 through information provided by CDC, public health, Governor Reynolds, ELCA, etc. and make needed changes if necessary. Please understand that things continue to change each day. Worship will be different from what we are use to in order to comply with current health guidelines and recommendations provided by the ELCA.
Summer:
We are tentatively planning on the following as we have more details to get worked out. We will send out another announcement with updated information via phone/email/church website/Facebook, but this is what we know so far.
- Soft opening on Wednesday, June 24th, 6:45pm, drive in/outdoor worship service at Trinity
- Sunday, June 28th, 9:30am, drive in/outdoor worship service at Trinity
- This will be the only Wednesday night worship for the summer, but our plans would be to continue weekly on Sunday mornings at 9:30am with the drive in/outdoor worship service for the summer. These services will be about 45 minutes in length.
- You are invited to worship in your vehicle as the service can be heard on an FM radio station that will be announced at the service or you can bring your own lawn chairs and sit outside.
- The lawn will be sprayed for bugs.
- Please stay in your vehicle throughout the service if you are worshipping in your vehicle.
- Please remember to keep at least six feet from people not in your household at all times.
- In case of inclement weather our plan will be to have a Facebook live service at 9:30am that Sunday morning and not the drive in/outdoor service.
- The building will not be open and restrooms will not be available unless its an emergency situation.
- Masks will be available at the outdoor services.
- Please come no earlier than 20 minutes before the service and depart once the service is done.
- Hard copies of the bulletin will be available for each service for anybody that would like one.
Funerals and Baptisms:
- Funeral services will be arranged through the funeral home, church, and complying with the current CDC and public health guidelines. Please contact Pastor Cole and the funeral home.
- If you have interest and questions about baptisms, please contact Pastor Cole.
We do not plan to do the following at this time or will be limiting the amount of time we do this in a worship service:
- We do not plan to have in person fellowship at this time. We will have zoom fellowship weekly on Sunday evenings at 7pm starting Sunday, June 28th. Come and join us as you are able for conversation and catching up with one another.
- We do not plan to have ushers and greeters at this time.
- We do not plan to have Holy Communion at this time because it is a great risk if it is served and a prime way of spreading the virus because of how it is distributed and our church council will continue to monitor.
- We will be limiting congregational singing and responses because of the particles that fly through the air.
- We will not be passing around offering plates because of all the contact that the plates would have with a variety of people. We will have a offering bin at the outdoor services to drop offering into or you can give in all of the following ways:
- Online through our church website www.trinityestherville.org (one time or reoccurring)
- Mail to Trinity PO Box 152, Estherville, Iowa 51334
- Give plus mobile app (one time or reoccurring)
- Leave in drop box outside front doors of the church.
We will continue:
- Online worship services linked on our website and church Facebook page weekly
- Sending emails
- Mailing information to families that are not online
- Sending out our monthly newsletter
- Zoom Bible study on Wednesday mornings at 10:30am and zoom fellowship on Sunday nights at 7pm beginning June 28th
Guidelines for safety and care for all of our neighbors per public health at the present time:
- Please refrain from handshakes, hugs, etc.
- It is not required, but strongly encouraged to wear a mask
- Please keep at least six feet from people not part of your household at all times
- Please do not come if you are feeling ill, think that you might be ill or have been around someone that has been exposed to COVID 19
- Hand sanitizer will be available
- No food and no beverages
Day to day operations of the church: Pastor Cole and Deb Seylar continue to work from home for the most part. Please feel free to contact them in the following ways:
- Deb 712-209-0430 or email: trinityestherville@gmail.com
- Pastor Cole 605-201-7686 or email trinitypastor@mediacombb.net
Please let us know if you plan not to come to in person worship services so we can continue to stay in contact with you.
Let us pray, by your word, eternal God, your creation sprang forth, and we were given the breath of life. By your word, eternal God, death is overcome, Christ is raised from the tomb, and we are given new life in the power of your Spirit. May we boldly proclaim this good news in our words and our deeds, rejoicing always in your powerful presence; through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord. Amen.
In Christ,
Trinity Church Council and Pastor Cole
