RETURN to WORSHIP
IN PERSON and LIVE STREAMED
We return to in-person worship in the Sanctuary on Sunday, March 7, 2021. For that to happen, however, we need to take precautions to keep everyone safe. The following guidelines will help you understand what worship will look like during our 10:45 a.m. worship service.
There will be pieces of worship that feel very familiar. There will also be many changes to worship, in order that we are able to continue to offer in-person worship services.
In addition to in-person worship, the service will also be live-streamed in the formats we have been using for the past few months—via the MVLC website, via Facebook Live, and via YouTube Premiere—at 10:45 a.m.
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RETURN to WORSHIP
IMPORTANT GUIDELINES
Important Guidelines for our Safe Return to Sanctuary Worship, starting Sunday, March 7, 2021.
As we prepare to resume worship in the sanctuary, the following guidelines for worship have been developed so the gathering community at Mountain View Lutheran Church can worship safely and reduce the risks of spreading or contracting COVID-19.
These guidelines are based on the Mountain View Lutheran Church COVID-19 Safety Plan for the Return to Sanctuary Worship. (You can view the full safety plan at www.mtviewlutheran.org/returntoworship-safetyplan.pdf) This plan reflects guidance provided by the National Center of Disease Control, Washington State and Pierce County Departments of Health and the ELCA. Please be patient with your pastors, worship leaders, greeters, ushers, and one another as we learn new routines and exercise our care for one another.
Prior to Sunday
- Take the Health Self-Assessment BEFORE you complete the RSVP form. (The Health Self-Assessment is part of the RSVP form.) If you answer Yes to either question, please DO NOT submit your RSVP form or plan to attend in person worship that Sunday. Please join us online with the live-stream service at 10:45 am.
- Everyone is required to RSVP for the worship date and time you want to attend. You may RSVP either on the church web site or by calling the church. For safe distancing, seating is limited at each service.
- If you plan to watch the live stream from home, skip to “Communion for Live Stream.”
Sunday Worship
- Take the Health Self-Assessment again before you leave home for in person worship. If you answer Yes to either question, DO NOT attend in person worship that Sunday. Please join us online with the live-stream services at 10:45 am.
- Wear a mask from the time you leave your vehicle until you return to your vehicle after worship. Masks will be provided if you have forgotten yours.
- Maintain safe social distancing (6+ feet) the entire time you are on campus.
- Plan to enter only through the Gathering Space doors nearest the parking lot.
- Follow all guidance of the Greeters and Ushers. Use the no-touch disinfectant dispensers.
- Plan to receive your individual communion kit from an Usher. Your worship folder is already pre-staged on the chairs in the sanctuary.
- Place your offering in the offering box by the baptismal font either as you enter or exit the sanctuary.
- Follow the guidance of the Ushers who will assist you to pre-staged seating. Please do not move any chairs in the sanctuary, ask an Usher for assistance. The sanctuary will be filled from the front to the back.
- Enjoy the music of the service, plan to hum along with the hymns. Please do not sing, as it poses risk even with a mask on.
- Enjoy the presence of one another. As we Share the Peace, wave, smile, make the sign of the Cross. Please do not embrace, hug, kiss or elbow-bump anyone but for immediate family members you are seated with.
- In using the restrooms, follow the capacity guidance posted outside the restroom doors.
- Follow the guidance of the Ushers in safely leaving the sanctuary. We will exit the sanctuary from back to front under the direction of the Ushers. Everyone will exit the sanctuary through the doors leading to the Administration building. Please do not loiter inside the facility after the service, so the cleaning crew can begin their work.
- Be flexible, patient and joyful as we gather together again in worship! Remember, we will all be learning together this “new” way of safely worshiping in person and together.
Post Worship
- Notify the church office if you receive a positive COVID-19 test result within 7 days of attending a worship service. Your name will be kept anonymous unless required for reporting to the Department of Health.
Communion for Live-Stream
- Communion will be celebrated weekly as a part of our worship. If your health condition, guidance from your Physician, or personal safety concerns lead you to not worship at this time in person, please join us for the 10:45 am live-streaming of worship. We also want you to be able to celebrate the grace of our Savior in the Eucharist, so “communion kits” are available outside the Administrative Offices.
The Return to Worship and Building Use Committee and the Congregational Council will continue to monitor local case activity and Washington State guidance, and will notify the congregation via the MVLC E-news and the church website (www.mtviewlutheran.org) should circumstances require changes to our worship plans.
You can also view these guidelines online as a PDF at https://mtviewlutheran.org/returntoworship-guidelines.pdf
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RETURN to WORSHIP
SAFETY PLAN
You can view the full version of the “COVID-19 Safety Plan for the Return to Sanctuary Worship” as a PDF at https://mtviewlutheran.org/returntoworship-safetyplan.pdf
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RETURN to WORSHIP
HEALTH SELF-ASSESSMENT
For your health safety, and for the health safety of all those who plan to gather at Mountain View Lutheran Church in worship on Sunday morning, please take the following screening questionnaire BEFORE you RSVP for the 10:45 a.m. service.
If you answer YES to any of the following questions DO NOT RSVP or plan to access the worship facility until after you have spoken to your medical provider and have their approval.
- Are you CURRENTLY SICK with any of the following symptoms? Fever, Cough, Sore Throat, Shortness of Breath, Nausea or Diarrhea?
- Have you had CLOSE PERSONAL CONTACT with anyone who has been diagnosed or is awaiting test results for COVID-19 in the past 14 days?
PRIOR to you leaving your residence to attend worship services, please answer the questions of the screening questionnaire again. If your situation has changed and you answer YES to any of the above questions, DO NOT plan to access the worship facility this week.
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RETURN to WORSHIP
REQUIREMENTS to ATTEND
What are the requirements for those who will attend?
* You will be asked to enter and exit as households (only those who live in your house) and sit together.
* An usher will seat you when you arrive for worship.
* You will be required to wear a mask that covers both your nose and mouth, keeping it on the entire time you are in the building. You are required to wear a mask at all times even if you have been fully vaccinated.
* You must observe the six feet social distancing requirement with individuals not in your household.
* You will need to bring a copy of your own Bible, since pew Bibles have been removed.
* Households are asked to remain seated until dismissed at the end of the service.
* Restrooms will be open, but you are asked to maintain social distancing.
(You will be asked to agree to these requirements as part of your registration.)
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RETURN to WORSHIP
REGISTER to ATTEND
You must register to attend worship. If you don’t register in advance, you will not be allowed to enter the building!
Registration form for 10:45 service on Sunday 3/7: https://mtviewlutheran.shelbynextchms.com/external/form/19725ffe-1f3a-40d4-9aa4-6dcafbcfa9f5
Please note: If we have reached the maximum number of attendees for one of the services, then the form will not allow you to register.
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RETURN to WORSHIP
VIDEO
Watch a short video with Pastor Mike on some of what returning to worship entails. You can view it at https://youtu.be/09IvszTO9pE
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RETURN to WORSHIP
WHAT to BRING with YOU
Remember to bring a mask with you to worship. You will be required to wear a mask that covers both your nose and your mouth through the entire service. You are required to wear a mask at all times even if you have been fully vaccinated.
Please bring your own Bible and writing utensil, if needed. Such items have been removed from the Sanctuary and will not be available to use.
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RETURN to WORSHIP
ENTERING the BUILDING
The only doors that will allow you entry into the building are the two main access doors into the Gathering Space nearest the parking lot. (Emergency exit doors will remain fully operational.)
When you arrive, please maintain social distancing of at least six feet until you are screened and allowed into the Gathering Space.
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RETURN to WORSHIP
COMMUNION KITS
Watch a very short video on how to properly open the communion kit (so you can get to both the wafer and juice without too much struggle) HERE.
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RETURN to WORSHIP
COMMUNION for LIVE-STREAMING PARTICIPANTS
If you will be participating in worship via live-streaming, but also desire communion, then you may pick up individual communion kits outside the Administrative Offices.
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RETURN to WORSHIP
CHECKLIST for ATTENDING IN-PERSON WORSHIP
- Did you take the personal health assessment?
- Are you able to abide by the requirements to attend?
- Did you register yourself and each member of your household who is planning on attending the 10:45 a.m. in-person worship service?
- On Sunday morning, please arrive 15 minutes prior to the service you are attending, in order that worship leaders can get everyone screened, checked in, and seated.
- On Sunday morning, do you have your mask with you? (And are you wearing it?)
- On Sunday morning, are you practicing safe social distancing?
- Bring your Bible and a writing utensil with you, if needed. (They won’t be available in the Sanctuary.)
- Please remember to be kind and patient.
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RETURN to WORSHIP
QUESTIONS?
Do you have questions or concerns about returning to worship? Then please send MVLC Church Office an email to office@mtviewlutheran.org and we’ll seek an answer for you.