Friday, October 22, 2021
Beloved friends,
I write to you again to outline our next steps of our collective and faithful journey through these challenging times. We start with a deep bow of gratitude for the 20+ people from our community who were able to join us this past Tuesday night to hear from some local health professionals about COVID in Lucas County. Thank you to Trinity member Karen Keune, who teaches both nursing and law & ethics and Trinity friend Dr. Pam Oatis, local physician for providing a wealth of information as well as their personal and professional perspectives on how we might be able to move forward.
After that conversation and some further discernment, I believe we have a creative and faithful path forward offering two things. First, we want to respond cautiously and responsibly to the continued risks of transmitting COVID by mitigating the risks we can in some intentional ways. We absolutely understand this will not be enough for everybody and trust and support each member making decisions best for them. Second, we are all of one mind we miss and need each other and being together, albeit in a different way, will be a much-needed balm for our souls. Following is our plan going forward for the coming weeks.
Sundays Oct 24th & 31st- remain with Trinity@Home offering at 9:00a
Sunday Nov. 7th – premier Trinity@Home at 9:00a followed by Trinity@316 at 11:00
Parameters for Trinity@316 “in-person” worship will include:
- Everyone in the building must be masked at all times
- We will be putting a contact tracing process in place by 11/7/21
- The service will be 45 minutes in length
- There will be no communion for the first 3 weeks in November to mitigate movement/proximity to others in the space (we will follow the same service outline as Trinity@Home), and we will evaluate that decision before Advent begins Sunday Nov 28.
- The choir will not be called to sing for the month of November (but will continue with Thursday night zoom choir rehearsals)
- The Choir Director (Chelsie), Trinity@316 Accompanist (Grace),4 section leaders (Melissa, Kim, Michael & Bradley), will lead the music, and remain separated from the congregation
- Chairs will be spaced and moveable to accommodate desired distancing
- There will be no passing of the Peace or an Offertory plate
- There will not be a children’s soft space, but we will have special activity bags for our children to use (and keep) as they sit with their families
Thank you again for your continued support and care of each other as we make our way forward together.
May you never forget that you are loved,
Lisa
The Rev. Dr. Lisa Tucker-Gray, lisa@trinitytoledo.org
