Dear Family,

How wonderful to be able to make my first letter to you one that is inviting you back to the gathering of our church, at church.  I

can hardly wait to meet allof you.  It has been abundantly clear as I met with the deacons, pulpit committee, and your secretary Amy, that GBC is comprised of individuals that love God and love each other.

Sunday the deacons met with me to discuss what our options might be for getting everyone back together.  Throughout the evening it became quite apparent that the men were more than ready to move ahead.  The following material is our plan for June 7th.

We anticipate Governor Wolfe moving Luzerne County into the yellow phase of his re-opening plan, effective today, Friday May 29th. Therefore, Grace Baptist is planning to re-open for services Sunday, June 7th.

Our desire is to balance the Biblical and essential call to worship together with a commitment to the health and safety of our church family and our community. (Hebrews 10:25, 1 Peter 2:13-17)

In the spirit of that balance, we are re-opening our building for worship services with the following safety measures in place.

  1. Sunday morning service will be held at 10:30 am.
  2. All children’s ministries (e.g. Nursery; Children’s Church) are suspended for the time being.
  3. We will be using the auditorium with ushers seating people to ensure proper social distancing. Families will be encouraged to sit together, social distancing from other families.
  4. You will be provided hand sanitizer upon entering the building. The CDC recommendation of wearing masks while in the building is encouraged although not mandatory. Hand sanitizer will also be available throughout the common areas.
  5. Two main entrances will be utilized: (1) the main entrance from the parking lot and (2) the East Street side entrance.
  6. No “greeting” time will be incorporated into the service, for the time being.
  7. For your convenience, offering plates will be located by the main entrance/exit of the auditorium.
  8. Our services will continue to be available on Facebook and our website, mygracebaptist.church for those who feel more comfortable at home and for those who should stay home for health reasons.
  9. Those who should stay home (e.g. High-risk individuals; those who are now, or have been, sick; temperature, cough, headache etc. Those who have recently traveled to high-risk areas) are asked to view the service online from the safety of their home.
  10. To promote social distancing, at the end of the service, attendees will be dismissed by rows.
  11. The cleaning/disinfecting of our church will be done throughout the week.
  12. This plan will be evaluated weekly for any needed changes.

Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Love,

Pastor Don and the Deacons