Dear friends in Christ,
Happy Thanksgiving and a blessed end of the Church Year to you!
In light of Governor Sisolak’s new mandates, we have made several revisions to our life together that we plan to keep through at least Tuesday, December 15th. It is possible that an extension to these measures or further changes from the government will mean revisions to this plan at any point during or after the three week period.
One other note of encouragement – we really need some help, even if just on a temporary basis, to assist in carrying out some mission critical functions to make sure that Word & Sacrament ministry through our worship services can happen well. You’ll note the addition of at least six new worship services in December between our midweek services and another entirely new worship slot. The A/V area and our health & welcoming team would love to welcome you and train you to help us as we serve each other and love our community!
Worship
Sunday:
We are keeping our normal Sunday schedule. We will be limited to no more than 50 people in the sanctuary, including the pastors, musicians and A/V team. We will also reinstitute our overflow seating areas. We can seat up to 25 in the narthex and 25 in the balcony. If you are seated in the overflow areas we will have an elder bring communion to you in the area where you’re seated. These services will continue to be streamed as well.
New Saturday night service:
We are temporarily adding a new traditional worship service on Saturday at 5:30pm. We are committed to holding this service for Saturday, 11/28, 12/5 and 12/12 and will evaluate accordingly moving forward. This service will be in-person only.
Advent Midweek:
We will hold three Wednesday Advent services on Wednesdays 12/2, 12/9 and 12/16 at 7pm. We are planning some other types of fellowship events throughout the month of December in place of Soup Suppers.
At-Risk: We will continue the brief communion service for our higher risk population on Tuesdays at 4:30pm.
Sunday School and Adult Bible Study
We will continue to hold in-person Sunday School and a hybrid adult Bible study on Sundays at 9:30am. There will be some format revisions for Sunday School in order to comply with the new, tighter 25% of fire code restrictions and other government mandates. Pastor Brad and our Sunday School leaders are working on those changes.
Youth
Our youth will continue on the same rotating schedule that we’ve had over the past few months.
Fellowship
The need for community and connection remains ever so critical. Our congregation leadership is working on some fellowship opportunities for you and your family during this month of December. More information will come out on this soon. We appreciate your patience and may be making a call for some help along the way.
Pastoral Care
Your pastors remain available and here to support you. We are available for in-person and phone or Zoom conversations. Your elders are also available as a help and resource for you and your family.
Christmas
We have several contingencies in place for Christmas. At this point it’s too early to know which one of those contingencies we will need to put into play. Please remain patient as we wait for word on the Christmas worship schedule.
We know that these adjustments are neither fun nor easy, but we look forward to worshipping and doing life together with you as disciples of Jesus waiting for His Second Coming this Advent season!
In Christ,
Pastor Derek