Church Family,
Your elders have been monitoring Covid-19 closely as we seek to faithfully shepherd the flock God has placed under our care. Your spiritual and physical safety has preoccupied our prayers, discussions, and meetings for several weeks. Thank you for your humility and support over these months, especially concerning our past two outdoor worship services. After much prayer and deliberation, we concur with the recent guidelines issued by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and will move our worship services inside. Both the elders and the CDC believe that indoor meetings can be safely conducted as long as certain practices are followed. Further, we are grateful for recent court orders affecting the state of Kentucky, as these are answers to prayer. We will continue to faithfully follow Christ while seeking to live a “tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity,” (1 Timothy 2:2) as we pray for our governing authorities.
In light of these considerations, we will be holding our worship service this Sunday, May 17, inside our building at 10:45am. Your elders encourage you to exercise discernment and responsibility during this time. Should you believe you are at risk, or a risk to others, please stay home. We understand that you yearn to gather with the body of Christ. Yet, during this unprecedented time, certain realities may prevent you from joining us. We will continue to love and minister to you during this time, anticipating and praying for your return to gathered worship. If you have questions, concerns, or reservations about meeting, please contact your elders so we know how to pray for and shepherd you during this time.
It is also our great desire to exercise wisdom in ensuring the safety of all of our people as we gather this Sunday, and so we ask that you please read the following guidelines, which outline how the service will be conducted.
Time: As stated above, the service will begin at 10:45am, and it will end at 11:30am. Please arrive no earlier than 10:20am.
Entry Into the Building: Parking will be in the normal lot behind the gym, and all members will enter and exit through the exterior vestibule doors at the back of the sanctuary. Parking attendants in yellow vests will be available to direct you where to go when you get here.
Spacing and Seating: When entering the building, we ask that you keep at least six feet of distance between you and the family in front of you. Upon entering the building ushers in yellow vests will tell you where to sit. We will seat one family unit to a pew, and there will be an empty pew between every family unit. We will also alternate which end of the pew each family sits on so that there will be at least nine feet of distance between your family and the family directly in front of you. Blue tape has been placed on the pews that will indicate where in the pew you may sit. Once you have been seated you must stay in your seat for the duration of the service except in the case of an emergency.
Restrooms: The restrooms will not be open for public use, so please keep that in mind in your preparation before the service. We will ensure that the service begins and ends on time for this reason.
Masks: As you are able, please wear a mask as you enter the building and keep it on until you sit down in your seat. Once you sit down, you are free to take it off, but we ask that you please put it on again when you get up to leave.
Singing: We will have congregational singing during the service, and we encourage you to sing if you attend. We have made great efforts to ensure that we maintain plenty of space between all family units for this reason.
Childcare: There will be no childcare available during the service. If you would like to request seating in the back so that you can get out easily to take a fussy child to the vestibule please email colin@farmdalebaptist.org.
Exiting the Building: We will dismiss everyone in an orderly manner after the service. Members seated in the back will exit first and we will move from back to front, dismissing one pew at a time. If you wish to socialize after worship, we simply ask that you do so outside, in the parking lot, and responsibly respect each other’s health.
Cleaning: All surfaces will be disinfected the week following the service in preparation for the upcoming service.
As has been our practice in the past, we will post the audio recording of the sermon on the website, and we are prayerfully considering how to best provide those who are unable to attend with the best pastoral care and spiritual resources that we can. We ask that you pray for us during this time as we seek to exercise wise leadership of our church, and we invite your input if you have any thoughts on additional ways that we can care for and communicate with the body during this time.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call the church office or reach out to one of the pastors directly by phone or email. We are praying for you and look forward to seeing you on Sunday.
In Christ,
Your Pastors