St. George’s Family,
With the rise in cases due to the highly transmissible delta variant, our leadership has been reassessing our COVID-19 policy. Over the past weeks numerous conversations have occurred with the St. George’s medical advisory committee, the diocese, and other church leaders. As one would expect, there are different perspectives within the St. George’s community. Given these differences in opinion, we ask that you show grace and understanding to one another as we navigate this difficult time. Our goal is to keep our congregation safe during the pandemic while also serving the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of our community.
Based on our conversations, we are confident that our congregation has a very high percentage of adults who have now been fully vaccinated for multiple months. Vaccinated adults may choose whether to wear a mask in worship. Masks are strongly encouraged for those who are unvaccinated and those at greater risk of infection. We will have masks available in the narthex and in Legacy Hall.
Our children and youth aged 2 and older will be required to wear masks while in an indoor classroom setting, including (but not limited to) Childcare, Kids Chapel, Sunday School, Choristers, and Youth Group. In addition, adults working with infants, children, and youth will wear masks.
We will continue to offer socially-distanced seating areas in the back of the Nave and in the balcony. We ask individuals in those areas to wear masks for the entire service. All seats in The Table will remain socially-distanced.
If you are experiencing cold-like symptoms, we encourage you to stay home. We will livestream the 10:00am traditional service this Sunday, August 22. Beginning August 29, we will livestream the 8:45 and 11:00am services.
We will continue our conversations with medical professionals and will reassess our policy monthly, watching data as it becomes available. However, depending on the information received, we may need to change the above protocols sooner.
Thank you for your ongoing compliance to these needed precautions. There is much to be excited about in our parish life these days. While fatigued by the ongoing and fluctuating threats of the pandemic, we are unwavering in our gratitude for our life together at St. George’s.
Faithfully,
