What Will Sunday Look Like

We are gathering again this Sunday at 10:30 am. Here are a few details about what to expect. With all we have gone through and where we remain in terms of limitations, it is a necessity that we all be patient with one another.

We are aiming to making our service as normal as possible, even within the existing abnormalities.

Entrance

With our current phase of re-opening, doors will be open at 10:00 am for our 10:30 am gathering. Both the Main Entrance and the West Entrance will be open at 10:00 am. These will be the only entrances available.

Doors will be physically opened for you and greeters will be present to assist with questions or needs you might have.

We will not be handing out bulletins, but a PDF of the morning gathering will be emailed to members ahead of time.

Masks are not required, but in concert with present CDC guidelines we encourage you to consider wearing one. We will leave it up to each individual as to the choice you make about wearing or not wearing a mask. If you desire to have one, masks are available at the welcome desk in the Main Entry.

Seating

Physical Distancing

One of the most important issues for us to give specific attention to is that of physical distancing. We are allowed to be open at the present capacity as long as we work hard at maintaining appropriate distancing. 

Physical distancing means maintaining about six feet distance between you and another who is not in your family. This distance is needed both when in conversation with each other, as well as in seating. Please ensure that sufficient distance is maintained between you and another family or individual who is not in your family.

Every other pew is taped off and restricted from use. Please help us by refraining from removing the tape and avoiding sitting in those pews. Chairs will be spaced out in a variety of groupings behind the pews. Please do not rearrange or move the chairs without consulting with an usher.

Parents, especially during these beginning days of our re-opening, it will be essential for your children to remain with you at all times.

While it will be very challenging, we are asking our members to refrain from handshakes and hugs, especially in this present phase of re-opening.

For those sitting in the Sanctuary, it would be helpful and important to find your way to where you will be sitting and enjoy fellowship with those in that area, so that we can assess the level of occupancy in the Sanctuary.

Overflow

We will be providing overflow seating in both the Foyer and the Fellowship Hall. Audio from the sanctuary will be available in the Foyer (video in the near future).

The Fellowship Hall will have varied groupings of chairs and a video/audio feed from the sanctuary. If and when the Sanctuary is filled to the allowed capacity, we will be required to use the overflow seating in the Fellowship Hall. Ushers will provide direction. Please do not rearrange the seating unless you have first consulted with an usher.

Singing

Singing is a vital part of our fellowship with one another on the Lord’s Day and we will be singing quite a bit this Sunday. We recognize that some experts have suggested caution in singing because of the possibility of an aerosolized spread of the virus. This is another reason why it is important to recognize the county requirement for physical distancing. This is the step we are asked to take in order to provide good-faith attempts to keep from any inadvertent asymptomatic spread of the virus.

Lord’s Supper

We will be taking the Lord’s Supper together this Sunday. When you enter the sanctuary at any of our entrances (or the Fellowship Hall), you will see tables containing plastic covered cups and packaged crackers. Ushers will be present at each table to provide you with the number of items you need. Please pick these up before you are seated for the service.

You will need to keep the elements with you until the end of the service when we take them together. You can feel free to place them in the pew in front of you until that time if you like.

Offering

As we mentioned last week, we will not be taking up an offering during the gathering. Instead, ushers will be available at the Welcome Desk to receive your offering. You may also use the offering box across from the office entrance. Feel free to continue to contribute through our online giving portal or to mail in your gifts to the church office.

Childcare

For June 7, we are providing childcare for ages 0-2. We have four rooms that have all been appropriately sanitized with adult volunteers who will be assisting. Please note that no snacks will be made available during this phase of our re-opening.

For those who wish to use childcare, please come down the children’s hallway from the Main Entrance to the Check-In station where someone will assist you. Once checked-in, proceed to the nursery station where a volunteer will assist in which classroom your child will attend. After dropping off your child, please only use the Sanctuary entrance from the nursery station to come in, rather than going back down the children’s hallway into the Foyer. Even if you will be sitting in the Foyer or Fellowship Hall, please avoid two-way traffic in the children’s hallway.

If parents who have young children with them in the Sanctuary (or additional seating areas) need to step out with the children for a brief time, we will have a large designated room in the children’s hallway you can utilize (CH301 – “the cubbies room”).

Please remember, we are unable to receive any children who present any symptoms of illness (fever, runny nose, etc.). 

Parents who are members of SWBC will be receiving additional and more specific information about childcare for this Sunday.

For those Who Cannot/Should Not Attend

If you are ill, or exhibiting any symptoms of sickness (even if thought to be seasonal allergies), or if you are specifically immunocompromised or in a category of high risk, we would request that this Sunday not be your first Sunday back.

We are aiming to provide a livestream (Facebook Live) of Sunday’s service at 10:30 am.

A video recording of the sermon will be provided Sunday afternoon after it has been processed.

We ask for your patience. This will be the first Sunday we have attempted a live-stream. We will do our best to assess and correct any difficulties with the stream as we find them, and will look to strengthen our capabilities in the coming weeks.

Please consult the home page of our website (swbcls.org) for a link to and directions for livestreaming.

Welcome Back

We are all beyond thrilled with our expectations of being back in our fellowship of worship together this coming Sunday. We anticipate a glorious Sunday with you.