Parish reopening

Dear parishioners,

Christ is in our midst!

I write to announce the reopening of our parish church. Because the reopening will be strictly limited in many different ways for some time, this is not the reopening that we would like to have, but it is what we are permitted to have under the combination of governmental, Synodal and Diocesan directives, all of which we must follow. 

An Outdoor Service. As previously announced, our first Liturgy will be served outdoors facing the church building, because we believe this to be the safest way to gather together. Those in attendance will stand on the lawn or at the edge of the parking lot. Thereafter, we will serve the Liturgy each Sunday in this fashion, and if it rains we will move the altar slightly into the Narthex, with those in attendance remaining outside of the Church, under the covered porch. 

Precautions. Everyone in attendance will be required to wear a mask for the duration of the service (except for children under the age of 2). Anyone who has issues with this requirement should refrain from attending services until such time as this requirement is lifted. Anyone who is not feeling well, has any coronavirus symptoms, currently has the coronavirus, has been in contact with anyone who has the coronavirus, has been hospitalized, is a health care provider, or has been in contact with someone who is a health care provider, should not attend until after they have self-quarantined for 14 days or been tested (this does not include the simple attendance at a doctor’s appointment). Social distancing will be practiced and maintained throughout the service. No one will be permitted to enter the church building or parish hall for any reason (including use of the restrooms, unfortunately). At the conclusion of the service, those in attendance will be asked to go directly to their cars and return home. Regretfully, there won’t be an opportunity to linger and socialize either before or after the service. 

The Eucharist. We will follow the practice that we adopted in March of asking each communicant not to close their mouth on the spoon or to touch it in any way. We had wanted to use individual spoons for each communicant but we did not receive permission to do so. However we will be rotating spoons which will be disinfected per CDC guidelines after each person receives communion. For this reason, distribution of Holy Communion will be done very slowly and carefully and we request your patience and cooperation. Each person communing will wipe their mouth with a paper napkin that will be provided and then collected and burned following the service. Zapivka and antidoron will not be provided. 

Attendance. Initially, attendance will be limited to ten (10) persons, including clergy, altar servers, choir director and 2 singers, so we expect that there will be room for four (4) other parishioners to attend. We ask that if you wish to attend this service, please email us at info@standrewsoca.org . We will select the first four replies and put the rest of the names on a published waiting list, so that you will see where your name is and can estimate how many weeks you will have to wait to attend a service (also, we will make every effort to keep family groups together). Diocesan guidelines require that every parishioner must first be offered an opportunity to attend a service before anyone who has already attended may attend a second or further service. Various stages of reopening have been established and we must adhere to and complete each of these stages in a progressive order. Once we have advanced up through the mandated stages, which will take several weeks, we expect to be permitted to allow more persons to attend (eventually this will be equal to 25% of our “capacity” but since we are outside, it is hard to determine what our “capacity” would be). 

Multiple Requirements. To answer the question “why are we limited to ten (10) persons when the Governor said the current limit was twenty-five percent?” please keep in mind that we, as a parish, are not at liberty to truly develop our own reopening protocol, and while the NYS prohibitions may say one thing, we are obliged to follow the Diocesan prohibitions as well, even if they are more strict than whatever the Governor is currently allowing.

Timing for Reopening. I have asked the members of the Parish Council for their advice on when to reopen. Some felt that we should reopen immediately and some felt that it was premature to do so during the pandemic. This has been a very hard decision to make but I have come to realize that if we do not reopen now and start the process, since there are many stages that we must complete before we can have a Liturgy which in any way resembles what we are accustomed to doing in the past, we won’t be able to do so when the time comes that we feel more confident in doing so (if that ever happens). 

Persons over age 65. Anyone aged 65 or older belongs to a higher risk group, as does anyone with a medical condition. If you are 65 or older and you also have a medical condition, you are doubly cautioned to think about whether it is wise to attend. However, if you choose to attend the service you will be permitted to do so. We ask you to be extremely careful and try to reduce any risk of infection. We do not want anyone to become ill. 

Receiving the Eucharist after the Service. If you wish to receive the Eucharist after the conclusion of the service, this will be permitted (for example, if you are not selected to attend a service on a given week, you may nonetheless visit the Church after the service and receive the Eucharist). Please indicate in your reply that you wish to follow this practice and I will get in touch with you.

Communication. Each week we will circulate an email with the names of those who may attend and those who are on our waiting list, which will be continuously updated. If anyone cancels, we will get in touch with the next person on the waiting list. 

Calendar of Services. On our Schedule page, you can find a proposed calendar of what services could look like during the upcoming months, depending on what happens and how we progress through the stages. This is designed to give everyone an idea of what things may look like in the future. If unfortunate events intervene, like a resurgence of coronavirus infections, this proposed calendar may prove to be too ambitious. Please bear in mind that we have no guarantee as to how quickly we will be permitted to progress through the stages. 

Choir Members. If you are an existing member of the choir and are willing to sing as one of our two (2) singers, please indicate this in your reply to this email. 

If you have any questions, please include them in your email reply and we will get back to you. Thank you for your patience, cooperation and generosity to the Church during this most difficult and trying time. We love, appreciate and respect all of our parishioners and we wish to safeguard both your physical health and your spiritual wellbeing. And please forgive me, a sinner. 

Yours in Christ,