News & Events

Dear Members and Friends,

Last Sunday was a sheer joy here at First Congregational as in-person worship resumed and so many blessed us with their presence and their own personal and family stories about surviving in the Pandemic. God is good! And God has been with us, our families, and our church during a uniquely difficult time in our lives.

Praise God that the news is good with the plummeting rates of COVID-19 giving rise to revised CDC guidelines for masking and social distancing. With the counties we serve in the LOW risk category, our Medical Advisory Team has recommended to Church Council that we follow the revised guidelines. Church Council has approved the following recommendations:

• As of Sunday, March 6, masking will be optional for anyone coming into the building. We know that some people will still need or prefer to wear face coverings, and we encourage those folks to continue to do so. An exception will be made for childcare workers, who will continue to mask as they care for children up to age 5 who are ineligible for the vaccine. You’ll notice our pastors wearing a mask when they offer the morning Children’s Sermon. You’ll also notice that the choir will still be masked.
• For peace of mind and individual medical concerns, we will continue to have chairs set up in the Narthex for social distancing and respect those who seat themselves in the Sanctuary at some distance from others.
• We reopened the building for church related groups of 15 or less. We look forward to reopening the building to outside groups very soon. Look for an announcement about that in the weeks to come.

While we are blessed by the opportunity to relax our guidelines, clearly the Pandemic is not over. We continue to praise God for the wonderful work of our community health care providers; praise God for the members of our church for their continuing support and involvement in our church; and praise God and for the neighborliness shown in getting vaccinated for the health and safety of all of us. We look forward to seeing you at church!

Yours in Christ,