Big News

 A Deliberate Step 

Friends, I have some very exciting and sober news to share. St. Mark will begin in person worship on Sunday, October 4, at 9:30 and 11:00am. Since the State of California has moved Orange County from ‘purple’ to ‘red’ in the color-themed tracking of COVID-19 data, we will be gathering in the sanctuary. So, for now, this is the news: In person worship resumes at St. Mark on Sunday mornings beginning in October. There are details below. Please review them so you will not be surprised and so that we can all work together to make this as smooth as possible. 

1. First and foremost, we will continue to offer our Saturday worship service via Facebook Live and post it on our website by Sunday morning. If you are unwell, if you are concerned, or if you need to sing in order to have a fulfilling worship service, the online service will continue to offer you a chance to worship with joy, gladness, and safety. 

2. If the County’s color code changes we will move worship outside. The staff and Worship Commission are preparing for either indoor or outdoor worship and the Faithful Phasing Team is monitoring the situation. Local epidemiologists have cautioned us that following the Labor Day weekend, with some schools opening, and with the usual flu season at hand, we may see a spike in our numbers, so we are prepared if that happens. 

3. We will be limited to 25% of our sanctuary capacity, which means 75 persons can attend a worship service. Therefore, we will have a registration process that you will need to use in order to attend. We can also use that information to contact you if we discover that another person in attendance subsequently has been diagnosed with the virus. We will make the registration process as easy to use as possible and you will always have a chance to call the church office if the online process is not feasible for you. The registration page will be up by September 21. 

4. Some things that you may be accustomed to in worship are not safe and will not be part of our services. They include: Passing the peace, communion, receiving the offering pew by pew, singing together, Sunday School, nursery services, and the doughnut hole-laden patio fellowship time. Bulletins will be virtual or on a self-serve table and we will need to be deliberate regarding how we enter and exit in order not to bottleneck around the doors. We are also exploring ways that one can sit outside and still hear the service. 

5. Families who shelter together will be able to sit side-by-side, but seating space will be staggered with proper distance beside, in front, and behind each other. 

6. Masks will be required. 

As you can see, we are trying to be attentive to the changing situation in Orange County while, at the same time, ensuring that we take every precaution possible. And, to repeat one last time, if the county’s situation changes for the worse, we will respond appropriately. 

Amid all of the precautions and adjustments, this is a very joyous occasion for us! There is something delightful about seeing one another’s faces, even if part of them are covered with masks. And I am especially happy to note that we will continue to make online worship available so that nobody is excluded. The amount of care, work, and consideration that your leadership have put into this decision is enormous. And while I’m sure that we all have some helpful ideas about how we navigate this change, please know that many of us have attended numerous webinars, read every article we could find, taken surveys, collected ‘best practices,’ and have spoken with others who have taken steps forward and backward to come to this moment. 

Thank you all for the patience that you have shown and for the ongoing support as we have taken a cautious approach to this pandemic. Your kindness and generosity have been key to bringing us to this moment. 

Blessings, 

Mark of St. Mark