In-Person Worship Guidelines

We are excited to welcome many of you back to worship in person at Christ Church Cranbrook. As we re-open to a new worship schedule that includes both indoor and outdoor venues on campus, we want to review some important points to help keep everyone safe and healthy during this time.

We ask your patience and prayers during this transition, as we live into the instructions for in-person worship currently offered by our Bishop. Gathering as a people is central to the Christian life, as is our care and love for the health and safety of one another, especially in the midst of this pandemic. This weekend we offer multiple ways of gathering virtually online and in-person.

Our schedule for worship is as follows:

• Saturday, 5 PM Outdoor Eucharist under the tent (up to 100 people);

• Sunday, 9 AM Service of the Word, Livestreamed (Church at Home)

• Sunday, 11 AM Outdoor Eucharist under the tent (up to 100 people).

• Weekday Morning Prayer continues via Zoom at 8:30 AM

If you or a member of your household is not feeling well or has been exposed to the coronavirus, please stay at home and join us by livestream at the 9 AM service. Similarly, if you identify yourself as a member of a population particularly vulnerable to this virus, please also stay at home and join us by livestream at the 9 AM service.

As you may have seen the last two weeks, our livestream broadcast has expanded in scope and span: we now have multiple cameras that can access closer views of the liturgical ministers as well beautiful displays of the church. At this service we will continue to offer preaching, music from the organ and prayers from parishioners received online during the service.

If you plan to come to worship in person this weekend, you will be expected to follow the protocol below:

Arrival for Worship

• Before you come to church, please wash your hands, check your temperature, and stay home if you have a fever.

• Please note that handicapped parking is extremely limited because of the tent set up outside the church and the closure of the building/elevators.

• The church building will not be open during service times. The restroom at the back of the church will be available only on an emergency basis.

• At the direction of our Bishop, all are required to wear face masks on our campus, indoors and outdoors, and throughout worship, except children under two years old. Please bring your own masks; there will be some masks available as needed.

• While on campus, please be sure to keep proper distance from other individuals and refrain from embracing or touching others.

• Hand sanitizer will be provided.

• All in attendance will register their name and contact information for contact tracing as they arrive via a QR Code (scanned by smartphone) or handwritten log. This information will only be used to contact you in case of a positive exposure to COVID-19 at this service. Please arrive at least 15 minutes before the service begins to allow for contact tracing registration and for seating of each household.

Seating for Worship

• For outdoor liturgies, a tent is set up on the island in front of the church. Space will be available at designated locations for seating in chairs or on blankets on the ground. Ushers and staff will direct you by household to physically distanced spaces.

  • Please feel free to bring your own seating or blankets so as to help us reduce our disinfection work following the service; some chairs will be available for those who need them.

  • Please feel free to bring a water bottle for your own needs.

  • Casual, come-as-you-are dress encouraged!

• For indoor liturgies, only the front doors of the church will be open for entrance. Ushers will escort you by household to physically distanced seating, filling the front of the church to the back. Some pews and areas will be closed off; you will not be able to choose your seat.

 

Instructions for Worship

• Instructions for the socially distanced reception of the Eucharist (consecrated bread only) will be given at the service. Ministers will sanitize their hands before dispensing Communion, and individuals will sanitize hands before receiving. You may choose not to receive the Eucharist.
• In place of the usual exchange of peace, offer a verbal greeting, nod, or bow to one another.
• Offerings can be placed in the baskets at the entrance of the worship space or given online.
• There is no Fellowship Hour following the services. (A virtual coffee hour via Zoom will continue at 10 AM following the 9 AM online service.)
• All surfaces will be sanitized after each service. Please assist the sextons by giving them quick access to the chairs and pews you have used.

 

Please continue to check our website for the most up-to-date information regarding worship services.

We understand that these guidelines are unfamiliar to the way we have traditionally gathered, but they are necessary for the health and safety of the community. Because we are all in this together, we thank you for your attention to these instructions and details and look forward to your participating in worship with us online or in person.

If you have any questions, please contact Pastor Manisha.

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