February 2021 Letter
From the Desk of Pastor Melissa
Dear Friends,
As I write to you, daily news briefings from Governor Pritzker and state officials are announcing changes in mitigations and tiers allowing for the loosening of some restrictions in Illinois.
While fully occupying our church building as we would like is not yet a possibility, your church staff and the members of Cornerstone’s return team have been preparing for in-person worship inside the church building once again.
Because of the fluidity of Coronavirus mitigations, I cannot share a definitive start date.
When we are able to have in person worship, we expect to be limited in the number of people who are occupying the building. We plan on beginning with 50 people in worship at 10 a.m. We are currently reviewing reservation systems to allow folk who feel comfortable with in-person worship to reserve a seat on Sunday morning. Online worship will continue to be available for home viewing on Facebook and YouTube. Cornerstone is also working on our website to allow for worship viewing and more efficient information sharing.
When in-person worship begins, masked attendees would enter the lobby and have a temperature check. You would wait in socially distanced household groups to be seated in the sanctuary. Masks covering noses and mouths will be worn while in the building and we will worship for 30-40 minutes. The air in the sanctuary cycles every 30 minutes and the airflow in the room moves toward the stage from the audio-visual room.
Because there is research regarding group exhalation and infection rates while singing or group speaking, we will plan on refraining from congregational singing and group liturgy. We will have music during worship.
To limit contact, there will not be a bulletin and the offering will be received in a bin as you exit the sanctuary. After worship, a controlled exit through the atrium will take place. Only the atrium restrooms will be available for one household unit at a time, there will be sanitation wipes available for users to prepare the room for themselves and others. The building will be cleaned to the best of our ability after use by staff and volunteers.
In February, staff and volunteers will begin the process of moving audiovisual equipment into modular and mobile units that will be housed in the Tech room. This will take several weeks. Then, best practices will be used to prepare and rebuild teams to serve in worship for a few weeks. As you can see, this is a carefully thought-out process that requires time. The soonest we would be in worship inside together would be sometime in March.
Your health and the safety of the congregation is deeply important to the staff and our return team. Cornerstone friends, we are called in this life to do good and not harm as we continue to love God and each other.
Thank you for your prayers and your care.
Pastor Melissa