Trinity Regathering Plan
Posted Saturday, May 30th, 2020
Trinity Family,
On Friday, May 29th, Governor Sununu released the COVID-19 Reopening Guidance for Places of Worship for the state of New Hampshire. This release is effective immediately, which is great news! I know that we are all “feeling” the distance and are “longing” to be together. This is a step closer and in that we rejoice.
But, there are many more steps we are taking in order to meet these guidelines. For the last few weeks, the elders, trustees, staff, and some great people have been working to get Trinity ready for some sort of return. As you can see in the guidelines, there are some processes that will be new for Trinity. This initial return will be very different.
While the guidance for places of worship is effective immediately, we are working with a Sunday, June 21st target date for the return of corporate worship. As we continue to prepare for our return, we want you to know the following (greater details will come as we get closer to June 21st):
This is just a start and more details will follow. Please continue to pray for wisdom, unity, and gospel growth as we prepare to resume our corporate worship.
We know that you may have questions and we want to provide clear pathways to ask those questions. For now, please send your questions to myself or the elders (see links below).
For Christ and His Glory,
Pastor Shawn Carpenter
But, there are many more steps we are taking in order to meet these guidelines. For the last few weeks, the elders, trustees, staff, and some great people have been working to get Trinity ready for some sort of return. As you can see in the guidelines, there are some processes that will be new for Trinity. This initial return will be very different.
While the guidance for places of worship is effective immediately, we are working with a Sunday, June 21st target date for the return of corporate worship. As we continue to prepare for our return, we want you to know the following (greater details will come as we get closer to June 21st):
- We will have two services (10:30am and 5:00pm) that will require Trinity families to sign up online in advance.
Signing up online will be every week during this phase. Households will sit together. While the reopening guidelines state we can have 40% of our occupancy, we will not be able to pull that off in accordance with the rest of the guidelines (note point 3 in the Governor's COVID-19 Reopening Guidance document: "However actual occupancy might need to be lower than 40% occupancy in order to comply with social distancing and other guidance contained in these Guidelines.") The two services will be the same and follow an hour-long worship guide similar to what we have provided during our time away from gathering in-person.
- We will live stream the full 10:30am service for those who choose or need to stay home.
Many of you will decide that it will be best to stay home for the time being. We understand and support your decision. To help keep us all feeling connected, we will provide a live stream of our full 10:30am service.
- We will follow the guidelines from New Hampshire and from the CDC for social distancing processes, as well as for cleaning and disinfecting following each service.
The Trinity Health Team will help us apply these guidelines to our processes for arriving, participating in, and leaving the service, as well as establishing teams trained and equipped to clean and disinfect following each service. Serving the church will have different needs during this next season of ministry together. We will need everyone’s help to make this work!
- In compliance with guidelines, there will be no nursery, child care, or Children’s Church.
We are not sure how long this guideline will be in place as it could continue into the next phase. We will do our best to provide options for you and your children to use as aids during the worship service.
- In compliance with the City of Nashua Ordinance Relative to Face Coverings, we will require masks.
We reached out to the Nashua Board of Health for clarification and guidance on this ordinance. From that conversation, we have a roadmap to reconfigure our physical spacing and set-up in the worship center. One of the biggest imperatives is to have masks on while singing, as singing is shown to produce more respiratory droplets than coughing. We want to sing and we also want to be safe, so we will wear masks. We will have a limited supply of masks to give out but trust that our Trinity families will bring their own!
- We hope to resume our rhythm of communion on Sunday, July 5th.
The communion elements will be individually-sealed cups and wafers. You will be able to grab your own upon arrival. For those who choose to not attend in-person services or are unable to attend, the elders are planning to provide the individually-sealed communion elements the week of communion. It will give us a tangible way to connect (socially distant) and pray for you.
This is just a start and more details will follow. Please continue to pray for wisdom, unity, and gospel growth as we prepare to resume our corporate worship.
We know that you may have questions and we want to provide clear pathways to ask those questions. For now, please send your questions to myself or the elders (see links below).
For Christ and His Glory,
Pastor Shawn Carpenter
