COVID-19 response: An update

If it doesn’t feel a little over the top, we aren’t doing what is most helpful right now to protect the most vulnerable members of our community. So here are some additional steps we are taking as a congregation:

Until April 5, we will suspend all in-person meetings, including worship. We invite you and the community at large to join us each Sunday at 10 a.m. for worship at www.facebook.com/vinestreet.

We will keep the number of leaders who gather to lead the service at or below ten, as currently recommended by the U.S. government. Therefore we will limit the non-staff leaders to one elder (the one scheduled to offer the prayer for the bread and cup at the table) and other essential roles such as sound and streaming techs. The role of the liturgical reader will be filled by staff members.

We encourage groups and individuals to take advantage of online tools like Zoom or facetime and other video applications, and to embrace this season of physical distancing as an opportunity to discover and practice other forms of connecting socially and spiritually. In our e-newsletter on Thursday, we will share other ideas for how we can stay in touch.

We will continually reassess how best to participate, individually and as a congregation, in the global, national, and local response to the spread of COVID-19, and we will communicate any updates and changes with the Vine Street community, both on our website and via email and social media.

In these early stages of a season of great economic uncertainty, we are grateful for your continued financial support of our ministries. Please mail your weekly or monthly contribution to the church, attention: Katie McLaughlin, or use the online giving option. This may also be a good time to set up a monthly bank draft; please contact Katie McLaughlin about the details. At the same time, we encourage you to let us know when you yourself face financial difficulties due to loss of income. We’re in this together.

Since most of our communication will be via electronic means, we ask you to update your Breeze profile (our online directory) or notify the office of any changes (address, phone number, email address, etc.). If you are a Facebook user and have not joined our friends group, we encourage you to do so.

Over the coming days and weeks, look for updates about online community art projects and our virtual game night and more in your inbox. If you would like to receive the sermon in the mail each week, please let us know. We’ll be happy to add you to our mailing list.