“O come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!”
Greetings,
I’m pleased to send you this note today to announce the newly updated guidance from the St. James Presbyterian Reopening Task Force regarding our in-person worship. Based on Washington State guidance released in late March, this Sunday, April 25, we will begin masked singing at church.
Here’s the word: Wearing a three-layer mask and maintaining our standard social distancing practices, you can now sing hymns during in-person worship.
If you’ve already worshipped with us in person again, you know that masks are required while in the building (and will continue to be for the foreseeable future). This new guidance clarifies what kind of mask (three-layer) and notes what is not permitted (no neck gaiters, for instance). If you need to wear two masks to reach three layers, that’s perfectly fine. Masks must adequately seal around the nose and mouth, which we know is good practice for maintaining an air/germ barrier. If you haven’t had a chance to review our full Reopening Guidance, please feel free to visit https://saintjamespres.org/reopening/.
This step forward should be cause for celebration in that it moves us closer to “normal.” But at the same time, we continue to encourage caution, comfort, and thoughtfulness about all we do in our physical gatherings together. Just because we can sing, it doesn’t mean everyone will be comfortable with that or ready to return to in-person worship — and that’s OK!
If you would like to join us for worship in person on Sunday, you can register right here: https://saintjamespres.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/823625
If you plan to join us online, we’ve updated the Live Stream web page to be more accessible and clear about bulletin content and hymns. Visit http://www.saintjamespres.org/live to join in from home, either on the website, via Facebook or YouTube, or using Zoom.
However you choose to worship with our community, we are so glad to have you. God’s people gather in worship from the north and south, east and west. We gather to sing for joy to our Creator, to proclaim God’s liberating love, and to be formed in the way of Jesus. I look forward to worshipping with you!
Grace and peace,
Pastor Seth
PS: I bet someone wants to know, so…this week’s hymns are:
- “Fairest Lord Jesus” GTG 630
- “My Life Flows On” GTG 821
- “How Firm a Foundation” GTG 463
