Public Worship Returns

With high delight
    Let us unite
In songs of great jubilation.
    Ye pure in heart,
    All bear your part,
Sing Jesus Christ, our salvation.
    To set us free
    Forever, He
    Is ris’n and sends
    To all earth’s ends
Good news to save ev’ry nation.

Dear members of St. John’s:

We are delighted to announce a return to public, in-person worship on Sunday, June 28.

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During our time of reopening, we will have services at 8 a.m., 11 a.m., and 6 p.m. on Sundays. This will allow us to spread our attendance over more services, and we will aim to keep our occupancy below 50 for each service.

We will continue to take precautions, including:

• Roping off pews to allow for 6 feet of distance between family groups
• Providing hand sanitizer at the entry to the building
• Printing the entire service in a worship folder that can be disposed after use
• Encouraging attendees to use face masks when you are not sitting in the pew
• Touchless offering options
• Reduced singing
• Increased sanitary measures and new distribution format for communion

We ask you to also assist us in keeping our attendance at 50 or below. Our 11 a.m. service is generally attended by fewer people and 6 p.m. allows for even more social distancing. Please consider utilizing an alternate service, especially if you are part of an at-risk population. For the time being, we will not be restarting Bible class or coffee hour. We also encourage you to make use of our outdoor spaces for socializing before and after church. I will also refrain from greeting with the traditional handshake after church.

We will also continue to provide an online option for you, if you wish to remain vigilant about your own isolation and social distancing. We will stream the 11 a.m. service live to our Youtube page. A new stream link will be posted by the Saturday evening prior to Sunday’s service. You may watch live at 11, or you may watch the archived video at your convenience.

While every report on the coronavirus suggests that communion itself is not a major risk factor for contracting Covid-19, it is also the time when we draw closest as a congregation. Therefore, I am also available for individual communion for at-risk members by appointment. I can administer the Supper during a home visit, or you may arrange to come to church for a brief service of the Sacrament.

Our isolation seems to have stretched on forever, but it is the blink of an eye in God’s time. I’m hopeful that our precautions and deliberate return to public worship will guard us against a recurrence of infection. I am also very much looking forward to seeing you all once again.

In addition to resuming worship, our Voters' Meeting regularly held in May will be held on June 28 after the 8 a.m. service in the church. 

In Christ,
under the cross,


Pastor Ehrhard