The Mountain Sky Conference has asked each congregation to form a team to plan for church in these Covid-19 days, as well as plan for reopening indoor worship. Our team members are Pastor Stephanie, Michael Shor, James Clements (new Building Manager), Andy Cowell, Lynne Pierce, Paul McClung, Bonnie Strand. Here are our purposes:
Following both State and Conference guidance, we continue to be conservative re: starting indoor worship. This link https://www.bouldercounty.org/families/disease/covid-19/covid-19-illness-and-recovery/ has considerable local Covid-19 data. While the local story is generally headed in the right direction, we continue to see additional cases. Although not the only factor in our conservative approach, State guidance currently only allows 50 people maximum in a single room. This would include our sanctuary.
The link above also includes State criteria for counties to move to the next phase after Safer At Home, called Protect Our Neighbors. Boulder County meets about half of these criteria, but still has case numbers and hospitalizations that are above Protect Our Neighbors criteria. The County also needs to complete implementation of contact tracing protocol and a mitigation/containment plan. Our current thinking is that we would not return to sanctuary worship until i) the County can move to this next level, and ii) we see the community impact of U of C students returning. Hopefully Protect Our Neighbors status might allow us more than 50 people in the Sanctuary at one time. We are not targeting a particular date for return to Sanctuary worship and full building opening, which is tough on everybody because we all want to go back. Pastor Stephanie and all involved in worship are continuing to focus on providing meaningful services and devotionals online. While the weather holds, outdoor worship will be first Sunday of the month, subject to change. When we return to Sanctuary worship, it is likely to be different than before; ex: probably continuing with no singing.
In the meantime, we have made a detailed list of what needs to be done before we can return to indoor worship. We are working through these items. We know already that we need to bolster our Greeter and Usher ranks. If you would be willing to serve in one of these ways, please contact Susie Powell (greeters) or Andy Cowell (ushers).
James Clements, our new Facilities Manager, started work here on September 1. Once he can be in the building, we can do better at opening for small group meetings, private prayer, drop-off of collection items, etc. If you need access to the building in the meantime, please contact Michael Shor at office@mtview.org.
Your suggestions, your questions, your prayers are all much appreciated.
Bonnie Strand (Bstrand695@gmail.com)