Update from Pastor Ronnie / May 21

A Message from Pastor Ronnie:

In-Person Worship Re-opening June 7

The Leadership Team of our Long Range Planning group has set June 7 as phase 1 re-open date for worship.

We will provide a more detailed list of guidelines next week in a mailing, but for now I wanted to give you a couple of the most important parts without an overwhelmingly long document.

Context
The Bishop has now left it to the pastor and the church leadership to make the best decisions for each local setting.

Our leadership team feels that some factors work in favor of a limited reopening of worship for our church.

-The infection rate is currently relatively low for our county. Mobile, Alabama is much higher, and south Florida higher still.

-New daily infections is currently low for the county but especially for Crestview on the North side of the county.

-First Methodist has two wonderfully large rooms for worship which allow for a larger gathering and yet still practice social distancing. The Main Sanctuary in particular seats 400.

We also recognize that things can change. If there is a large spike in Crestview, we will revise our plan. But for now, we feel we are ready to reopen with phase 1.

Worship Times
We will begin with two services. Contemporary at 9:45 and Traditional at 11.

Please know that we had lengthy discussions about the 8:30 service. And our plan is to bring that back in phase 2.

There are several challenges for 8:30 worship. First, the chapel itself is not large enough for social distancing. Many who have not attended the 8:30 service may not know that it was our most crowded service compared to room size. Further, if we move 8:30 to the Main sanctuary, then cleaning will be required between services.

Thus for right now, we want to bring our folks back for worship in the safest, simplest way possible. I spoke to some people from the 8:30 service and opinions were across the board. Most said they would be flexible during this difficult time. A few were pretty firm that they only like the 8:30 hour.

So for right now, we will keep things as simple as possible. The highest logistical goal is to get in-person worship started again. Thus we will not have Sunday School, youth, or children’s activities.

Some Safe Practices
When we come back together for worship, we will spread out by family groups and practice social distancing.

Also, we want our worshippers to wear a mask. Because singing is a possible source of transmission of disease in a pandemic (speaking is much less a problem). Some may find this article helpful: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/…/congregational-singin…/ This will also be why we will not have a choir at first, relying instead on special music. If I was given a choice: a) come and worship silently or humming with no mask… or b) worship with singing using a mask- I would opt for congregational singing with a mask.

Thus, if you have no mask, we encourage you to get some. Our plan is to provide some for those who have none.

What we want to avoid is re-opening, having a viral outbreak, and then having to close worship again (which has happened in a few churches around the country).

Online is Here to Stay
Our plan is to continue to provide online worship. This will be true not only because of the pandemic, but also because God is graciously allowing us to reach a wider audience through this medium.

Our Hearts in Love
Our nation is very divided, and this applies to issues related to this pandemic. Even within our own church, I’ve received passionate views on all sides. But in the midst of divided opinion, I’m asking the Church to be the Church- a gathering of those who come together with a spirit of love, humility, patience and gentleness. A people whose passionate desire is to honor Jesus and love one another.

This is the heart of who we are historically as Methodists. I’m reminded the words of our founder, John Wesley, who penned his famous simple synopsis of the Christian life: “Do no harm. Do good. Stay in love with God.” These words have never seemed truer or stronger than in our current pandemic.

June 7 will be an exciting day. I look forward to being in worship with many of you. If you do not feel comfortable coming yet, we support you.

In Christ,

Pastor Ronnie