This is a campus update given by our Senior Pastor, Executive Pastor, and Senior Director of Church Administration on Friday, May 22.
Below is a message from our Senior Pastor Kevin DeYoung about gathering together. Below is information for how we can gather safely.
Please note, we have two different sign-ups to attend worship, one for the worship center and one for the Community Life Center (CLC) simulcast. To see sign-ups for worship on June 7, 14, and 21, please visit christcovenant.org/regathering.
- The worship center will hold 400 maximum safely with social distancing. We got to the number 400 maximum by using safe social distancing calculations based on recommendations from the CDC and the state of North Carolina.
- The Community Life Center (CLC) will hold 100 people maximum with safe social distancing. The service will be simulcasted onto the three large screens in CLC 1-6. We got to the number 100 maximum by using safe social distancing calculations based on recommendations from the CDC and the state of North Carolina.
- We will not have communion, but the pastors and staff are thinking through a safe way to do this in the near future.
- The choir and majority of the orchestra are temporarily suspended as a safety measure.
- As we plan to re-gather this Sunday, we are focused on worshipping the Lord, protecting our church family, and truly loving our neighbors. With that in mind, we are going to great lengths to prepare our facilities and follow best practices, and there are several areas in which we need your help. First, we are asking all of our attending Elders, Deacons, Pastors, Staff and their families to wear masks and we ask you to please do the same. We now have enough masks for everyone attending in case you don’t have a mask of your own. Second, if you are in a high-risk category or are sick, please stay home and live-stream with us. Finally, if you are unable or unwilling to wear a mask (other than children under 2), please make that known to a worship coordinator as you enter so they can arrange seating for you that is safely distanced from those who will be wearing masks.
For Families with Small Children
- There will not be any childcare available.
- All nursery rooms in the worship center are closed with the exception of the mother’s nursing room. Moms may use the nursing room for diaper changes and other new mom needs.
- Diaper changing stations are located in the CLC women’s bathroom and family bathroom, worship center’s women’s bathroom in the north lobby and nursing mothers’ room.
Evening Worship
- If you attend the morning worship service, you are welcome to return for the evening worship service.
- No sign ups are needed for the evening worship.
- Evening worship will be live-streamed and those gathering will only be in the worship center. Evening worship will not be simulcasted in the CLC.
FAQs
- We will be adhering to all the recommendations in place by the CDC and the state of North Carolina. This means that if you are in the vulnerable or at-risk category, please worship remotely with us.
- We will follow all safety regulations given by our state to be responsible and to love our neighbor well.
- If you are sick or not feeling well, you should worship remotely with us.
- We will be adhering to social distancing with families sitting six feet apart from one another inside the worship center and CLC. In the worship center, we will use the floor, balcony and side panel seating to properly social distance.
- Please keep in mind, the Governor’s three W’s: wear a mask, wait six feet apart, and wash your hands with soap frequently for 20 seconds.
- We strongly encourage you to wear a mask. We are asking our Elders, Deacons, Pastors, Staff and their families to wear a mask and we urge you to do the same. We will have a small supply of masks available if you leave yours at home or do not have one.
We want to follow all safety regulations given to us by our governor and in an effort to love our neighbor well. Things will be a little different as we gather together inside, such as:
- We will not pass the offering plate, but we will have offering boxes at various stations in both the worship center and CLC.
- All pew Bibles, hymnals, pens and pew cards will be removed from the worship center.
- The book nook will be closed.
- The information desk will not have pamphlets or papers available.
- We will not have worship bulletins available, but you may print one from home and bring it.
- Before you come and after morning and evening worship, every space that was used will be thoroughly cleaned.
We are looking forward to gathering together for worship. May 31 is the beginning of our gathering together. We hope and are planning to have sign-ups for worship in the month of June and following where we will rotate through the pastoral communities for priority sign-ups. Live-stream will continue, so if you are not able to gather, we hope you will continue to worship remotely. We do need to remember that all of this can change very quickly, but this is the plan for the time being.
In Christ,
Tom Groelsema, Executive Pastor
Sandy Spitz, Senior Director of Church Administration
updated 05/29/2020
