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Dear Tabernacle Family,

The time has come! Next Sunday Tabernacle will open its doors wide and welcome people back into the sanctuary for the first time in over a year. You can RSVP to attend our in person gathering here.

We know that some are not ready to return. We see you and fully recognize that you are a vital part of our congregation. We fully acknowledge that the church is not the building and that God moves in virtual spaces.

For those who are ready to return… as the safety protocol team, our promise to you is this: We will do everything we can to make sure that people have a safe space to worship God.

On Sunday Mornings, the Safety Protocol Team will:

1. Make sure everyone has a mask and is wearing it correctly. Masks are required for anyone over the age of 5 even if you are fully vaccinated. 
2. Make sure that every “family unit or party” is spaced six feet apart from one another.
3. Make sure that our original protocol, as voted on by the church, is followed. You can read this protocol and updates here.

We want to be clear. When someone is leading in worship, they will lead with masks off. When they are finished leading, they will put their masks back on. This includes members of the choir. Members of the choir will sing without masks on. All choir members will be appropriately distanced from both one another and the audience in the pews. 

The safety protocol team will work as hard as we can to earn your trust.  With that said, the protocol team will act as the “monitors” on Sunday morning to make sure everyone is following the rules, even guests. While we want to show hospitality to everyone that enters our building, we will ask that guests and members alike are masked and are socially distanced. 

We know that God is still calling us to be Church. May we seek God’s presence as we move forward into what God has in store for us next. We are excited to once again share sacred space.  

As we move forward we acknowledge that things will not be perfect. When things do go awry, we ask for grace. We also ask that you contact Mark Snipes at marksnipes1@gmail.com so that we can deal with issues that arise as we move back into the sanctuary together. 

In Christ,

Mark Snipes and the Safety Protocol Team

Dear Tabernacle Staff and Church Family,

During the last few months, you have tasked our committee to come up with protocols that would help keep our congregation safe in the face of COVID-19. We have gone through a long year of not being able to be face-to-face! Now, however, we are approaching the metrics originally set, and voted on, for returning to in-person worship. Thus, we propose that we re-start in person worship on May 2nd, at 30 percent capacity of the overall sanctuary. 

As we approach that week, we suggest that the church: 

Open up an online registration to help limit the amount of people in the sanctuary on any given Sunday. When registering, congregants would be asked these three questions::     

• Have you or anyone in your family had a fever, sore throat, cough, or shortness of breath in the past week?
• Have you or anyone in your family been exposed to anyone with COVID-19 in the past 2 weeks?
• Have you tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 10 days?

If there is a “yes” answer to any of those questions, that congregant would be asked not to attend. We would suggest that registration would begin on the Monday before that weekly service and end on Thursday (or when capacity is reached).

Then, on Sunday morning :

We have a team check-in through one main door asking the same three questions. Again, if the answer to any three of these questions is “yes”, that congregant would be asked to leave the premises until they can answer no. Since congregants sign up online, the church will have access to a roster in case there is a need to notify others of a positive exposure. 

We also suggest: 

1. We provide hand sanitizer stations upon entry.
2. We ask that all family units stay distanced from one another. 
3. Congregants would be asked to leave after worship without prolonged gathering and chatting.
4. Face coverings required for anyone over 5.
5. Guests should be encouraged to report to staff if anyone tests positive within 5 days after being in worship.

We are so excited that things are trending the right way! If this trend begins to trend back to over a positivity rate of 7.5 percent, we will have to shut down again until that specific spike subsides. Thanks to vaccines, good mediation efforts and the grace of God, we see the light at the end of this long tunnel.  As we navigate our way back into the building, we recognize the need for holy space while acknowledging that, even without the building, we have been God’s church throughout this pandemic year. As we move forward, may we do so with grace and understanding while cheering one another on as we live out God’s unique call in our lives. 

Your Covid Protocol Team
Mark Snipes, Jessica Corbitt, Lugene Fernald, Anita McCarty and Jerry Jones