The Psalmist said, I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
It has been so good to begin re-gathering as a church. There is no substitute for the saints gathering together in person to worship God & stir one another up to love & good works (Heb. 10:24).
I (Walt) want us to continue meeting together each week through the summer.
In order to do so, incorporating the counsel of trusted leaders & medical professionals, we believe we need to make a few adjustments to how we gather.
As you know, on Monday, Governor Lee extended the Safer At Home Executive Order through the end of August, because of the rising number of positive cases in Tennessee. In addition, yesterday I met with Mayor Gentry to discuss the rising number of positive cases in our community, including several recent outbreaks.
It is now the general consensus that we should be most careful when gathering with people indoors for an extended period of time.
Since gathering together as a church is one of times, beginning this week:
We will offer the upstairs balcony as a masks-required area for folks who would feel most comfortable there.
We encourage everyone to wear a mask during singing. They are not required for the whole meeting. However, singing is widely considered the most vulnerable moment for churches, of unknowingly spreading the virus to one another.
As we have in the past month or so:
We will continue with physical distancing between rows.
We will continue to disinfect all chairs, handles, surfaces, & restrooms prior to the service.
We will continue to offer TGKids as an option for children 4 & under during the sermon. However, in addition to checking each of the childcare workers temperature & having them wear masks, we will check the temperature of each child during check-in.
We ask the sick to stay home.
We encourage folks 65-years-old or older or with pre-existing conditions to prayerfully consider whether they should stay home or not.
I hope & pray we are through this very soon. Nevertheless, I count it a privilege to stand united with you in trusting God in the midst of this season.