Trinity will be re-opening on Sunday, January 24! The case numbers for Floyd County have improved to the point that we will be returning to the protocols that were in place prior to the November 11 shut-down. Specifically…
WORSHIP: In person worship resumes this Sunday, January 24, with the 9:00 a.m. worship service. People are urged to wear masks and socially distance and attendance will continue to be limited to 50 in the centrum and 25 each in Wesley Hall and the Concourse (overflow). Congregational singing and coffee time will continue to be suspended. The 5:00 p.m. Saturday night service will resume once Sunday morning attendance reaches 50. Services will still be shortened to limit possible exposure.
FUNERALS and WEDDINGS: The same restrictions that we have on worship also apply to funerals and weddings. Funeral dinners will not be offered until further notice.
SUNDAY SCHOOL and YOUTH GROUP: Sunday School can resume as soon as the teachers are ready. Same with youth group. Masks and social distancing, sanitizing and no singing protocols would continue to be in effect. Due to the shorter worship services, Sunday school will resume at 9:45 a.m. as they were before.
CONFIRMATION: Live confirmation will also start up this Sunday, January 24 and will be at 10:00 a.m. rather than 10:30 a.m.
OPEN DOORS: The main door will be unlocked and anyone entering the building is urged to continue wearing masks, distance, etc.
MEETINGS: Meetings can continue with a limit of 10-12 people with masks and distancing. Use of larger spaces such as Wesley Hall, Asbury Hall, the Concourse or the Centrum are encouraged. The building will continue to be closed to non-church groups.
WALKERS: Walkers are allowed when the building is open.
Dear Trinity family—
Welcome to 2021! As we begin a new year, we continue to deal with COVID-19. Trinity’s Re-Opening Team has been emailing back and forth this week, discussing our next steps. On November 10, 2020 Bishop Laurie Haller and the cabinet issued a “directive” for Iowa United Methodist Churches to suspend in-person gatherings at least until after January 10. November and early December saw a large spike across Iowa. In fact, for a while all of Iowa’s congressional districts were in the top ten hot spots for the whole nation! Thankfully, things have calmed down considerably from back then. On January 4, the bishop sent a communication to the churches of Iowa announcing that the directive would be allowed to expire after the 10th. Along with that news, she encouraged congregations to watch their county numbers as they consider re-opening.
When this week started, our assumption was that we would beginning re-opening the church. In fact, my first email to the Re-Opening Team this past Tuesday was a proposal to re-open the church January 11th. However, the numbers in Floyd County started rising on Wednesday. The 7-day positivity average has gone from 9% to 12% while the 14-day average went from 11% to 15%. Annual Conference guidelines recommend that once this second figure goes over 15% the church go from “yellow” (cautious re-opening) to “red” status. Given the fact that Floyd County’s rate is on the rise, the Re-Opening Team wants to wait and see how the situation develops before announcing any changes. Is this just a slight post-holiday blip that will begin to go back down next week or is it the beginning of another surge? My guess is that it will be more of a blip than a major surge but who knows? For now, the Re-Opening Team seems to be in agreement that we pause on re-opening and re-evaluate the situation next week. Our hope is to be able to proceed with re-opening either January 24th or 31st but that will depend on what happens in the coming days.
We know that we have members who are very hesitant to return to in-person activities and we have members who are very eager to return to in-person activities. Our thinking through all of this has been that if we do what we can to make sure we open safely, the greatest number of our members will be comfortable returning to live church.
It hasn’t been easy to strike a balance between being overly cautious and not cautious enough. The other day I saw an article about a church in Boston that had four Christmas Eve services and thought they were being careful. Forty-four people who attended later tested positive. This morning I talked to a pastor whose had some people who insisted on getting together at the church on Christmas Eve. Two of those people tested positive. On the other hand, there are churches who seem to be getting away with few if any precautions. Like so many things right now, what you believe depends on who you listen to. Our Re-Opening Team has turned to the Annual Conference for guidance as a way to protect our congregation members and continues to rely largely on the guidance they are offering. (After all, we’re paying them for that guidance—right?)
We ask for your understanding and your prayers—prayers not only for our Re-Opening Team but for our congregation members (especially those who are most vulnerable to the virus and to the effects of the on-going isolation being caused by the virus), our community and the world.
God bless you all!
Pastor Steve
The Re-Opening Team will continue to monitor the local situation and make adjustments as necessary. In the case of an upsurge of cases in our area, we could reinstate the shutdown of our facility in cooperation with local authorities to help control the spread of the virus.
Re-Opening Plan
for Trinity United Methodist Church
Charles City, Iowa
Approved June 16, 2020
GOAL: To re-open Trinity United Methodist Church in a manner that reassures our members and guests that we share their concern for safety during the coronavirus pandemic.
GENERAL PLAN OVERVIEW: Follow the guidelines from the Annual Conference
- Begin live worship with a “soft opening” June 21 and 28, limiting attendance to 50 pre-registered congregants and using generally accepted precautions
- Continue online services
- Funerals and weddings will follow worship guidelines
- Evaluate initial services and make adjustments for July and August worship.
- Facility: Remain locked with limited access to the building
- Church meetings of 10 or less allowed
- Non-church meetings still not allowed
WORSHIP
At risk members and guests are encouraged to remain at home and participate through our online or radio services.
Anyone who is experiencing any symptoms should remain at home.
Worshipers are encouraged to take their own temperature at home before coming to worship.
Start with one worship service at 9:00 a.m., limiting the number of participants to 50. Members will be invited to pre-register through the church office. 20% of the seating will be reserved for visitors and unregistered members. This will help us tweak our procedures and begin to get people used to those procedures. It will also give us an idea of possible worship attendance as we make plans for July and August.
Implement safety procedures as recommended by the Annual Conference and other sources, including…
- Only the east parking lot door will be open.
- Social distancing of 6-10 feet before, during and after services. Some chairs will be removed and remaining chairs spaced.
- Very strongly encouraging everyone to wear masks while in the building and strongly encouraging those who are able to wear masks through the service. Members are encouraged to bring their own masks but extra masks will be available.
- Availability and use of hand sanitizer
- Sanitize as recommended
- No congregational singing or responses (special music is allowed at 10-12 feet from front row)
- Remove the hymnals and songbooks from the chairs
- No bulletins will be available but an announcement sheet will be provided following the services as people leave
- No fellowship time before or after worship
- Attendance pads will not be used. Attendance will be taken using the registration list (in order to be able to trace contacts, if needed)
- Offering plates will be placed by the doors rather than passed.
- Services will be shortened to 30-40 minutes
An area will be made available for people who are at increased risk. At least one of the partitions between the centrum and fellowship hall will be opened and very limited seating made available for people who are at high risk.
Some tables will be set up at the back of the room for people who had been attending our second service and are used to sitting at tables as well as for families with young children.
Communion will be celebrated but only by using individual servings. (These have been ordered but, like many supplies, are on backorder.) The communion prayer will be lifted up at the end of the service and the elements passed out by a member of the Safety Team (wearing masks and gloves) as worshipers leave the building.
Members of the Safety Team will usher people to their seats so that social distancing is respected. Worshipers will also be ushered out of the service so that bottlenecks are avoided
FUNERAL SERVICES AND WEDDINGS
Funeral services and weddings will be subject to the same policies as worship. Funeral directors will be given a copy of this policy. Disposable masks will be made available.
No funeral dinners will be served by the church at this time.
DURING THE WEEK:
The doors of the facility will remain locked in order to protect the staff and to monitor who enters the building.
The staff is asked to set an example by wearing a mask when outside of their office.
MEETINGS
Church meetings of 10 or less people are allowed. The use of masks is very strongly encouraged and social distancing is required. Meetings need to be scheduled through the church office and a record of attendees needs to be turned in. Non-church meetings will still not be allowed at this time.
YOUTH AND CHILDREN’S PROGRAM
As recommended by Annual Conference guidelines, youth and children’s onsite ministries and programs will continue to be placed on hold.