In-Person Services Begin, October 18
Learn How We Are Safely Reopening For Church Service
After a great deal of discussion, thought, and prayer, I am delighted to announce that we will be opening the doors to St. Luke’s for worship on Sunday, October 18 at 10:00 am. I’m also happy to announce that the bishop has given his permission to celebrate the Eucharist for the first time since the end of March. During the last seven months we have been able to worship both online and in-person at our outdoor services. But I think we can all agree that there is nothing more comforting to Episcopalians than to be able to receive the sacrament of Holy Eucharist in the church.
While we are happy to begin sharing the Eucharist on October 18, we will be taking strict measures to ensure that we will do so in a safe way. I’m grateful for the work of our Health and Wellness Ministry who have been extremely helpful in offering some information for safe practices for our worship. In addition, the Diocese of Southern Ohio also has guidelines to ensure that we are able to come together safely. So with that in mind, I want take this time to let you know what our worship is going to look like on October 18.
First of all, masks will be required for all persons in the church. This is non-negotiable. If you do not have a mask with you, you will be given one before you enter the church.
We are also making sure that social-distancing will be practiced. We are limiting the number of people in the church to 30 to make sure that there is plenty of space will be available.
We are asking that you reserve your place in this service by emailing Dagny Gelormo at office@stlukesgranville.org. If there are more people who want to come to our service than we can accommodate, we will happily add another service on Saturday evening at 5:00 pm, at a later date.
In addition, we are also making sure that there is one-way traffic in the church. You are asked to enter the church and go in through the right-hand door in the narthex.
Upon entering, there will be a table with hand sanitizer, latex gloves for those who want them, an offering plate for your contributions, and the service leaflets.
We have removed prayer books, hymnals, and kneelers from the pews to help us keep the church properly sanitized.
Upon finding your seat we ask that you refrain from hugging or shaking hands. As painful as it is, these times call for restraint with our affection.
While lovely music will be offered, there will be no singing of hymns during our service. The Gloria in excelsis, the Psalm, and the Sanctus will all be spoken by the congregation rather than sung.
I will be masked throughout the service, except during the sermon. But we will also have plexiglass shields in place in front of both the pulpit as well as the lectern.
During the celebration of Eucharist, I will be masked and properly sanitized. I will not touch the elements during the consecration. During the distribution, we will practice social distancing while coming forward and we will limit the number of people at the altar rail to three at a time. I will distribute the host by gently dropping it into your hand so as not to touch anyone and you are then asked to return to your seat to eat of the host.
At this time, we will not be offering the chalice for obvious reasons.
At the close of the service, we ask that you leave the church via the door to your right as you approach the narthex, again keeping a one-way flow of foot traffic.
The ten o’clock service will be live-streamed so that everyone who is not able to come to church can view from home.
For those who are not comfortable coming to in-person services but who would like to receive communion, I will be happy to serve you from the front steps of the church between 11:30 am and 12:00 pm. Again, I will be masked to your ensure safety during this distribution.
While many of the measures may seem odd to you, we are simply doing everything we can to make sure that everyone who comes to church is made to feel safe. Given the complications to our lives over the last few months, we have all had to adapt to new ways of doing things. Nothing is ideal right now but, as ever, we will do that absolute best we can with what we have.
Keep in mind that the diocese is asking that churches in counties that are in the red in Ohio’s color coded COVID-19 map cease from having in-person gatherings in their church. Licking County is currently an orange county. If we were to enter the red, we would no longer have people in the pews but would offer a live stream of the Eucharist while distributing the host on the front steps of the church following the service to any parishioners who would want to receive.
While all these guidelines may feel strange at first, I suspect that we will adapt, yet again, to our new reality.
Please continue to hold your brothers and sisters in Christ at St. Luke’s in prayer. We are all feeling the tension of these times. But my prayer is that receiving the consecrated Body of Christ will make things a little better. As ever, please know that I am available to you. Contact me at frmichaelralph@stlukesgranville.org.
Blessings,
Fr. Michael