I believe we’ll be adjusting to the post-pandemic world for years to come. Even though the pandemic isn’t “over” we do have the opportunity to cautiously plan out our gatherings and Sunday worship services.

This is challenging with the unknowns of the future and the lingering fears of the last few years. Nothing is the same as it was—and making plans has been a disappointing venture for over 2½ years—but without plans, we flounder and can become despondent.

We must make plans so we can enter our next phase.
The decision to go to in person for July and August was due to a lack of staff and volunteers to offer any online/Zoom option. I believe “in-person only” leaves many (too many) people out of our worship experience, so I want to try to bring an online/Zoom experience back with our in-person services to come.

We will continue to have in-person services from this point on.

The goal is to provide a meaningful worship experience for all—for those who can attend in-person and for those who aren’t ready or can’t attend.
The challenge is to incorporate both groups with the technology and volunteers we can gather each Sunday.

Just for reference—the hybrid services (with both Zoom and in-person congregations) we held on May 15, May 22, May 27, and June 19 were wonderful, but took over an hour to setup and 5 people supporting each service. Great format and delivery—however, not sustainable with our volunteer pool.

So, I’m planning an experiment trying to use an easier online format that doesn’t take so many people to support it.

Here is my plan
Sunday September 11th In-Person and Zoom
Sunday September 18th In-Person and Zoom
Sunday September 25th In-Person and Zoom
October 2nd TBD

This experiment will require 3 people to support the service technological needs (pulpit computer, sanctuary sound person, and Zoom manager).

If you Zoom in for these services, you’ll see the in-person service live and be able to enter into a break-out group after the service to visit with folks. You won’t be able to share your Joys & Sorrows over Zoom and the music audio may not be optimum.

Let’s try this experiment to see if we can consistently provide a meaningful worship service for both our in-person and on-line congregations………………..peace………..Russ