At the beginning of May, several committees came together to discuss our current state of online worship and a review of our three-step process of transitioning back to in-person worship.  Those from the worship committee, tech team, implementation team, Pastor David, and the church council met. Below is the summary of the meeting.

We will continue to abide by the guidelines created by the Implementation Team which include following the Idaho positivity rate trends and waiting to return to in person, indoor worship until the Idaho positivity rate can be sustained at 2% for a period of time. The small size of our sanctuary does not have an adequate ventilation system to enable us to safely return indoors yet. We will continue to provide in-person services conducted outdoors and will record and live-stream the worship services which are then uploaded onto Redeemer’s Facebook page for anyone to watch live or at a later time. Those involved in producing the online services (recording, performing, taping, editing) will continue to produce our online worship. They will also work on finding back-up people for their tasks to enable them to be off for short or long periods of time. 

We will offer an in-person service ONLY (no live online service or recorded online service) on the last Sunday in May (May 30), the last Sunday in June (June 27) and the last Sunday in July (July 25).  This will give a break to everyone involved in producing the online worship, it will also coincide with weekends Pastor David is not present and we are using pulpit supply. 

We will discuss at the congregational meeting on June 20 where we currently are in terms of the Implementation Step process and how it’s based on the Idaho positivity rate. We will ask if the congregation is comfortable continuing to follow these guidelines, or does the congregation want the implementation team to revisit their guidelines. Currently our recommendations are obtained from the WHO and CDC.  We welcome feedback from the congregation on this matter.

While we are worshiping outside, please continue to follow the guidelines posted, including social distancing of at least 6 feet between family groups, and no sharing of food. We are looking for volunteers to help usher at the outdoor services. If you are able to volunteer, please arrive 15 minutes early for training / a review of the protocols in place. 

Thank you to everyone who is making our worship possible and keeping our community safe!

Jean Pollock, President