June 19, 2020
Dear CPC family:
The Church Reopening Team presented an update to the Session last Tuesday to slowly restart off-campus and outdoor youth gatherings as part of our four-stage reopening plan. It was unanimously supported. We are still not able to provide child care, children’s ministry, youth ministry, Sunday School, bible studies or other ministries on our campus at this time but are working toward September to do so. However, we hope to begin smaller midweek meetings sometime in July if we can do so safely.
Here is a summary of the updated four stages:
Stage 1 – Current Stage
Both the 9:30 am and 11:00 am worship services are livestream / prerecorded only.
Stage 2 – Beginning June 28, (9:30 am in-person service begins)
9:30 am worship service: Hold in-person service in the Sanctuary only. Maximum of 75 persons. Livestreaming for online at home worship.
11:00 am worship service: Livestream or prerecorded only.
Stage 3 – Planned for July 5 (open overflow rooms for 9:30 service)
9:30 am worship service: Hold in-person service in the Sanctuary, with overflow to Friendship Hall, Fireside Room and possibly Courtyard. Maximum of 100 persons. Livestreaming to overflow rooms and for online at home worship.
11:00 am worship service: Continue Livestream or prerecorded only.
Stage 4 – Planned for July 19 (11:00 am service in-person begins!)
9:30 am AND 11:00 am worship service: Hold in-person service in the Sanctuary, with overflow to Friendship Hall, Fireside Room and possibly Courtyard. Maximum of 100 persons. Livestreaming to overflow rooms and for online at home worship.
As we closely follow guidelines provided by state and local authorities, you can expect seating that is limited to 75 people in the sanctuary, physical distancing, masks required, no congregational singing and reservations needed. We know that singing is an important part of worship, but we believe that current safety guidelines means congregational singing inside our buildings do not provide the level of safety we are committed to maintain.
A full list of safety protocols are listed on our website. The online reservation system for the June 28 9:30 am service will also include health screening and safety protocol instructions.
The Eventbrite reservation system will be available starting Monday, June 22. Look for a Monday morning email from the church with an Eventbrite link and instructions on how to sign-up.
We thought you might be interested in a survey by Christianity Today showing that 67% of churches in the USA have not yet begun gathering. Of the 33% that have returned to in-person gatherings, most are seeing less than half of their congregation attend and the overwhelming majority indicate that their meetings are abbreviated or have taken some other format than their pre-pandemic services. The article states that “church leaders across the nation are cautiously planning their return to in-person worship gatherings this summer. However, the return to in-person gatherings is not as simple as turning on a light switch. Many precautionary measures are being put into place to ensure health and safety for church members and the community at large.”
We are asking you to continue to join us in prayer as we move towards our reopening on June 28 at 9:30 am. We look forward to seeing you online this Father’s Day Sunday at 9:30 am and 11:00 am.
Pastor Tim and the Church Reopening Team
Staff: Tim Yee, Luke Barnes, Dorothy Bentley, Bob Spencer, Abby Warburg
Laity: Lily Ogden, Matt Bell, Alain Claudel, Susan Kuhlman