Covid Phase Yellow: Gradual Lifting of Mitigations
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Happily, Harford County is in Phase Yellow and rapidly moving toward Phase Green. We thank you for your prompt responses to our Phase Yellow Survey so that we may now proceed to gradually lift the mitigations that have been in place.
Due to the size of our worship-space we will continue to wear masks and suspend congregational singing for the short-term. Additionally, we will need to continue the protocols for having food or snacks either after church or at non-worship events both outdoors and in the Parish Hall per the Phase Yellow restrictions:
- Non-worship receptions are allowed using prepackaged food and beverages
- Fellowship time may resume with individually served food and beverages, but outdoors only.
- Indoor fellowship may resume, but not with food or beverages yet
The following mitigations have either been lifted, or will be beginning Sunday, July 4, 2021:
- The windows are closed and the Air Conditioning is on. The church will be cooled to approximately 74 degrees, and reset to come back on if the temperature were to go above 80 degrees. This is to reduce air flow as much as possible while in church. So far, with the system reset to 80 every Sunday, the temperature has not risen above 76 degrees.
- Capacity which was allowed to be 50% of total seating will now be lifted: a return to 100% Capacity.
- In line with the capacity mitigation being lifted, social distancing for seating will be lifted as well. Please continue social distancing receiving communion while exiting the church.
- We will no longer serve the host in paper cups, but rather the Celebrant will drop the host in your hand at the rear of the church on the way out.
- The Celebrant, being fully vaccinated, will no longer wear a mask while consecrating Holy Communion.
- If you are not feeling well, please stay home and watch the Live Stream.
As we move closer to Phase Green, we will begin to lift other mitigations one-by-one, e.g. communion served at the rail, optional mask use, singing by a single cantor, and of course congregational singing, and in Phase Green the possible return of wine with the host. Bear with us as we make a steady return to normal with continued direction from the Diocese and the team of Public Health Officials and others who are guiding us in best practices to keep the pandemic contained. Although the positivity rate in Harford County remains below the 1% threshold, the case rate showed an uptick from 0.7 to 0.9 over the past week. We will need to keep an eye on that number.
I want to thank everyone who has helped with continuing the life of our historic parish over the past 16 months, and those who have been present for our Live Stream services and in-church worship when we have been allowed to return. Live Stream of our services will continue to be available every Sunday for the foreseeable future as it has extended our reach into and beyond the Harford County community. We especially thank all of you, and people from across the country, who have sustained Pledges, Tithing and Contributions to the financial health of our congregation. This last includes the Diocese of Maryland who has gifted Christ Church two (2) grants to purchase the equipment necessary to Live Stream our services, and a recent grant from Harford County secured for us by our Senior Warden, Molly Neal. Christ Church is well positioned to bring the Good News of Jesus to people far and wide in the months and years ahead. We truly are God’s Beloved! God is well pleased with us!
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Kirk Kubicek, Priest-in-Charge
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