Covid-19 Policy

May 20th, 2021

Dear Christ Church Family,

We are writing with joyful news. Starting May 30^th, we go masks optional in all our services. For some of you, this is a finally! And for others, this may still be a concern. As we understand the situation, those who are vaccinated are free to be maskless. Those who are not, are free to make their own decisions on the issue.

Starting June 6^th, we will go back to normal Sunday morning schedules. Worship will be at 8:30 and 11:00, children’s church will begin before sermon. Foundation Hour will restart at 10:00. The adults will meet in the Youth House for the summer (as is our tradition) and the youth will begin summer walk through the bible in the Multi-Purpose Room.

We are very thankful to be at a stage where we can return to more normal church functions and want to thank you all for bearing with us as we sought the Lord for how best to navigate the past year. The elders are asking that regardless of your position on pandemic safety, that we would respect the decisions of all our attenders as brothers and sisters in Christ.

We look forward to seeing you all on the Lawn as we hear testimonies of praise this Sunday and see many more of you as we begin the summer.

In Christ,

The Elders of Christ Church

March 25th, 2021

We are just over a year out from the start of Covid. In Illinois, vaccinations are going out and our numbers in town are very low. We are thankful for that and because of that we are looking to change our policies with regard to how we do worship and building use going forward. These will begin starting with Easter (if indoor). Below are the bullet points. We look forward to seeing more of you as we continue to move toward normal church functions.

The Sanctuary will be set up as it normally was, but we will cap our size at 80. Masks will still be required due to closer proximity.
The nursery will be open.
NO MORE SIGNUPS!!!! Yay!
The Multi-Purpose room will no longer be used (except in cases we need overflow room).
The Youth House will remain a “masks optional” zone.
Services will remain online as well, at least, until we return to normal functions.

As it looks like things are getting better, we continue to look at all the information and seek to reopen wisely. We expect to see the number of vaccination rise in the coming months and that will impact how we continue the reopen. As those occur, we will continue to communicate those.

Lastly!

If we look further out, beginning June 6th, we will begin our Foundation Hour again. Services will return to their normal time slots of 8:30 and 11:00 then.
We’ll say more about that as we get closer, but we want to provide hope as we move forward!

May 19th, 2020

As we look to reopen in the coming weeks, the session has approved this outline as for how we will look to grow our current ministries as we seek our trajectory toward normal. As confessional Reformed people, we will continue to follow the desires of our civil magistrate as long as we are allowed to continue rightly worshipping our Lord and will seek to meet the needs of our congregation throughout.

While gatherings of 10 people or fewer allowed – we are currently allowed this

This will likely be through latter June/early July
We will continue to worship predominately online
Changes to consider – finding ways to connect:
- Let’s encourage families to worship in each other’s’ homes (as they feel comfortable)
- Create smaller KGroups for summer meetings and host outdoor kgroups (for those comfortable)
- We are debating some form of Foundation Hour, still
- As summer moves on, please some get-togethers with smaller people counts.
June 21 -> we will host a post service drive-thru Lord’s Supper and connection time. We will institute the elements in the service and invite people to come and partake. All three pastors will serve the elements (in prepackaged cups) to each vehicle, greet, and answer any questions.

While gatherings of 50 people or fewer allowed

We will continue all the parts from Phase 3 amending with these changes
- g, KGroups could grow to their normal sizes if people wanted
This will likely begin sometime in July and continue for months so this might shift as we go.
We will continue streaming for people who want to do so for health/conscience reasons
How we will do on-site worship
- We will limit our service on-site to 50 (if allowed, we will add a second site ate Youth House)
- We will use an RSVP system to keep ourselves within the 50 allowed
- There will be no FH or Nursery
- We will continue to encourage social distancing (sanctuary will be changed accordingly)
- We will require the use of masks – those on stage won’t use them on stage
- We will provide sanitizers
- We will use our “shorter liturgy” for 2 reasons
  - Singing has been discouraged (we need to decide how we will address)
  - With more kids in service, shorter is better
- Offering will be given by a box in the back as opposed to passing the plate
- July 26^th ->Lord’s Supper will be by elders to people (again prepackaged elements) and we will host a table post service for people who attended stream to come and partake (this will recur every 2^nd Sunday until we reach phase 5)
- Bulletins will remain digital (limiting hand touch items)
- We will host a group in the sanctuary and youth house (and see if we’d be allowed to do so in the MPR) – about 80 people/service
- We will disinfect used areas between services
- We will remove common items (bibles and hymnals) that would need to be cleaned if used
- Greeters:
  - They will hold doors for people
  - Provide answers for questions

May 15th, 2020

Members and Friends of Christ Church, PCA,

Greetings in Christ! We continue to pray that you are all well. We are continuing our current plan for Covid19 closure through May 31st in accordance with the State authorities. That said, we are making plans for what services will look like as we move into Phase 3 (Lord willing in June) and Phase 4 (Lord willing in June!). We hope to post some info on that soon, but until then, know that this policy remains in place. We love and miss you all!

First, we want you to be aware that we are seeking to protect the health of our congregation as well as our larger community. Here are a few of the ways we hope to do this:

-Starting, Sunday, March 15th through May 31st, we are cancelling all building use except for staff and relevant meeting of less than 10. Staff will continue to self-quarantine, if needed.
-We will be starting online Sunday Morning worship services through the closure on May 31st. These will stream at 10:00 am and are found on YouTube. Please subscribe. We will also be posting links on the Website, Facebook, and through the connection.
-We will also be doing mid-week updates as on opportunity to continue to connect and provide a sense of normalcy during these abnormal days. Let us know if you have questions you would like addressed in this times.
-We will work earnestly to disinfect all our surfaces to limit virus exposure of those who use the building.
-KGroups, since they are small groups and meet in homes, are left up to the leadership of the KGroups as to cancellation or meeting. If leaders have questions, please contact Pastor Tim.
-Any changes to this throughout the crisis will be amended and sent out on Thursdays and placed on the Website, through Facebook, and sent out on the connection and prayer lines.
-Here’s how you can help:
If you become aware of part of our community that is sick with Covid-19, please contact Pastor Tim so we can reach out to them.
Be in prayer overall. That we would continue to be the church to each other and those outside the church during this time where are aren’t physically connected.
Keep Informed: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

We continue to trust in a loving and good Father who will take care of his people, the Son, who continues to intercede for us, and the Spirit who still unites us to Christ and each other even when we worship on YouTube.

In Christ,
Christ Church Session