UPDATES ON CHRISTMAS EVE – PLEASE READ!
Our 3 pm service for children and families is moving indoors, due to possible inclement weather. Masking is required for anyone over age 2. We’ll need parents to help us make sure that we don’t end up too close together, and the limit will be 40 people (we are not expecting that many, but want to be on the safe side!). This service is expected to last about 30 minutes and will include Communion. It will not be live-streamed.
The 5pm and 10pm services of Holy Eucharist are going forward as planned, with both in-person and online options. We will have Communion and congregational singing, but with appropriate masking and distancing expected by all participants. Please see below for more specific guidance regarding these services. Thank you!
Safety Update from the Rector
December 22, 2021
Dear Ones,
All of us, I am sure, have been watching the news about the spreading Omicron variant with some alarm. I have been talking over some concerns with the staff and have decided to make a few changes to our procedures, beginning on Christmas Eve. These changes include:
All worship leaders will be masked at all times. Up until now, we have been following guidance we received from our Diocese several months ago, which suggested that if worship leaders were vaccinated (as they must be), and were six feet from other people, that masking was not necessary. However, both the county and the state are now requiring masking indoors, with very few exceptions, and it seems best to adhere to that stricter standard at this time.
Masks must be worn when in line for Communion. Please keep your mask on and in place when you come forward for Communion. After you have received your host in your hand and have moved on a few feet, you can lower (or raise) your mask enough to consume the host as you return to your seat. This will prevent those distributing Communion from potentially being exposed multiple times during the service.
We are lowering our in-person capacity to 75 people, including clergy and choir. This is probably the hardest decision, because the idea of turning anyone away from church, especially at Christmas, is excruciating. However, with three services on Christmas Eve, and two of them being live-streamed, we should be able to accommodate everyone. Please consider coming a little early on Christmas Eve, so that we can get people signed in and seated with appropriate distance between household groups.
As I write this, there does not appear to be a need to cancel in-person services. This is the good news. But we need to take every precaution to make sure that our indoor gatherings are as safe as possible.
Now, more than ever, we need to make our decisions with the good of the whole community in mind. Most of us at St. Martin’s are vaccinated. If you are not fully vaccinated, please don’t wait one more day. Now is the time! And the same for booster shots; if you are eligible, don’t wait! Getting tested regularly is also an excellent idea, even for those of us who are fully vaccinated and asymptomatic. Taking precautions like these could literally save a life–your own or someone else’s.
Fear not: Emmanuel, God-with-us, is coming. As we say in Godly Play, the king who was coming then is still coming! Whether you join us in person or online, whether you celebrate Christmas in isolation or with family and friends, you are a beloved child of God and a valued member of this community. We’ll get through this, together.
Blessings,
Pamela+