St. Paul Family,

  Greetings! I hope this letter finds you well. As you may know the State of Texas has encouraged churches to reopen as long as they adhere to certain minimum safety protocols. We have decided to take a cautious approach to reopening. We are planning to begin with a “Partial Reopening” on May 31st. What we mean by a “Partial Reopening” is that we will continue to make the primary focus of our service on the livestream through the month of June. We encourage those who are showing any symptoms, those within one of the high-risk groups, or those who are not yet comfortable returning to stay home and enjoy our excellent livestream service. If you are not in one of those groups, we encourage you to join us! Our service will continue to be at 10:30 am.

  Here are the (state mandated) protocols for returning: 1. Soap and hand sanitizer will be readily available, please use it often. 2. We invite you to wear masks, though we will not require them. 3. Please practice social distancing (every other row will be closed, and you will need two chairs or 6 feet on a pew between you and the next group). 4. You will be able to attend with your family unit or sit with one other person with whom you are “attending”. 5. There will be no “Fellowship Gathering” time. 6. Please refrain from hugging, hand shaking, fist bumps, high fives, etc. 7. Sneeze and cough into your elbow.

  Children’s ministry is somewhat problematic due to the social distancing guidelines, we have decided to offer a “modified children’s experience”. There will not be a nursery attendant, but the nursery will be available for parents to take their small children (a limited number of sanitized toys will be available). Children’s ministry will dismiss as usual during the service, but they will be in the fellowship hall watching a video and arranged at an appropriate distance for their safety. We understand if you would prefer to keep your children with you in worship.

  I am excited to begin the process of gathering together for worship once again! I know this is not the Homecoming we all wanted, but it is my prayer for that day to come very soon! When it does we will have an appropriate celebration. Many of you have asked about the celebration of Communion. I believe that theologically it is important to participate in communion together and in person. We are considering how we can safely and administer the sacrament when we are able to gather in person more fully. Please let us know if you have any questions or if there is anything we can do to help you.

By his Grace,

Pastor Jason