As King County moves towards changes in public and private gathering restrictions after reaching 70% vaccination rates, First Church has news as well. July 18th will be “Homecoming” Sunday for the First Church community. The First Church Council and the Worship Team have researched, approved, prepared, and field-tested live worship services to resume as we move forward into a new way of worshiping together.
Our Re-opening phases are as follows:
- Worship Watch Parties: Starting July 18th at 10:30AM, our congregation is welcome to watch the pre-recorded worship services in the sanctuary. Experiencing the worship service in the same room, joining in the same liturgy, and hearing the piano and organ in the Sanctuary will be a welcome change from worshipping at home.
- Sunday, July 18th will also be our First Church Picnic where box lunches and outside seating will be available to catch up with each other after our long season away.
- Hybrid Live-Streaming: Starting August 15th, the services will be a mixture of live speaking elements and pre-recorded choral elements. Speakers will be fully vaccinated.
- Full Live-Streaming: Starting Rally Sunday, September 12th, we expect our full service to be live and streamed online in full.
Logistics for all services until further notice:
- Holy Communion will be shared outside after each worship service, beginning July 18th.
- Masking and physical distancing are required. Only speakers with verified vaccinations will be speaking without a mask. The Sanctuary will be set up for a maximum of 25% occupancy, and the Fellowship Hall will be open to limited capacity for overflow. Security Shepherds will be available to help with adjusting to these requirements.
- Children’s programming will be available during the worship service (“Discovery Time”) on July 18th, and then will be starting full time on August 15th. Due to restrictions from The United Methodist Church, there is no childcare (“nursery”) available at this time.
- Get Outside! While indoor worship services are limited to restricted to be one hour, there’s no limit to how long folks can linger outside or go on walks with longtime or new friends! Your small group or circles can gather on our grounds or at Seattle Center–be creative!
Our timeline allows us to ease into life together, giving our volunteers and staff time and experience to reopen well. Starting July 6, the Staff will be working in the church office on Tuesdays from 10:00am-4:30pm. Our practices hold firmly to our theology of welcome and our pursuit to do no harm as we look to recommendations and practices backed by science and public health officials. May our faith in God who shelters us, Jesus who walks with us, and the Spirit who connects us continue to guide First Church in this new season.
Blessings and see you Sunday,
Pastor Jeremy Smith
Pastor Yvonne Agduyeng
Katie Harris, Church Council Chair