A Word from Mitch
After praying about it this morning, I want to say that we will be going back to just one newsletter a week once the school year ends at the end of May. That newsletter will be on Thursdays. Tuesday's newsletter has been dedicated to passing on COVID information. In terms of COVID, our parish has done its best to follow diocesan protocols and offer factual information.
As far as St. Martin's goes, with percent positives at 4.5 percent, St. Martin's is still limited to 30 percent capacity based on diocesan protocol. For each .5 percent positive below that number, our maximum capacity increases by 10 percent. Indoor communal singing is, according to diocesan protocols, not allowed. Our 8 a.m. service has fit well within diocesan protocol numbers with a bit of room to spare. Please feel free to come. There is room. Aside from a different communion protocol, and the fact that Scott Keith is filming from the front of the church, not much about the 8 a.m. service is different.
The 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. services, for the time being, remain outside. Our reason for doing this is twofold. First, both of these services hover around our max indoor capacity with the 10:30 service exceeding it more often than not. The second reason is that some people in our parish love to sing the church's hymns. If you want to sing, then being outside is the trade-off, until the diocese tells us otherwise. If you come to the 10:30 a.m. and/or the 5 p.m. service, please grab a hymnal as you find your spot.
Our 8 a.m. livestream service is available on YouTube and has held strong at 100+ views. The three in-person services plus the fourth virtual service and the Tuesday noon service combined are serving 200-plus families. While this is positive, there is still work to do on getting back to where we used to be and beyond. We have shown that we can creatively worship in person as a large community and do so safely. We can follow science, listen to doctors and health care professionals, and celebrate our faith. No matter what service you attend, consider inviting someone to attend it with you. Please consider sharing your faith with another, and by extension, St. Martin's. The pandemic has shown us that the world needs community. At St. Martin's we have one. Invite others to experience it.
In Christ,
Mitch+