Massachusetts has reopened churches
It's not a question of "if" we meet in person again, but a question of when. Every church community is now going to have to make that decision for themselves. The Governor is allowing churches in the state to start meeting, given they follow stringent restrictions. These restrictions include:
- Limiting attendance to 40% building capacity
- Seating must be blocked off to allow for social distancing between family units.
- No children's church or childcare
- Masks must be worn by all those who are capable (including leaders)
- Social distancing & cleaning protocols must be followed
- Vulnerable or heavily exposed populations are discouraged from attending
- All attendees will need to sign-up before coming or sign-in upon arrival to help with contact tracing
Those are just some of the restrictions.
Opinions on this matter going to differ widely across our church community. Some are ready to start meeting again, while others are exceedingly cautious - and understandably so!
While the city of Somerville has put a hold on reopening for now, we need to put our plan and team together. So with that in mind, we're going to be hosting an open forum on Zoom on Wednesday, May 20 @ 7:30PM. I would love for EVERYONE possible to attend so we can get a good feel for where people are at. At this meeting we hope to do these things:
- Share/walk-through our most up-to-date plan for reopening - whether that be this week or in the next few weeks (that document is a work in progress / feel free to make comments!)
- Get an idea for how many people would come to church if we're following the strictest restrictions
- Form a reopening team to take the lead on following the restrictions. I'm just completely unable to do all of these things required by myself. It will take a community commitment!
I know this is a lot to take in. We've been saying "stay home, stay home, stay home." And now things are starting to change and we have the opportunity to potentially meet together. Let's process this together.
Join us on Wednesday @ 7:30PM for the forum!