Masks and Social Distancing

Overview

St. Louis County has recently issued a new mask mandate to replace the mask mandate of July 26 which was blocked in court.

We trust our church family to make wise personal choices about masks, social distancing, and vaccines and will not establish a church-wide requirement.

We encourage everyone to research the best ways to stay safe and keep others safe including the county guidelines at stlcorona.com. Please remember that the CDC and St. Louis County still recommend unvaccinated people wear a mask and social distance.

We will not ask anyone about their vaccination status and we encourage our church family to not ask anyone else at church about their vaccination status. This is a private personal health decision.

Worship Services

We will reserve a section of the auditorium as “masks-required.” Some rows will remain blocked for social distancing for the time being. Reservations are not required.

MINISTRIES

We encourage our ministry leaders and leadership teams to talk with their group and determine what mask and social distance standards are best for them on an ongoing basis. Pastors and staff are ready to provide guidance if needed.

KID CONNECTION

Families and volunteers should decide whether they wish to remain masked or not as a personal decision. Please remember that the CDC and St. Louis County still recommends unvaccinated people wear a mask and social distance.

Online Services

Our online services will continue with the same level of attention and quality we’ve built throughout the pandemic. Anyone who cannot attend in person is welcome to join us online where we will continue to serve you.

NEXT STEPS

We recognize that our church family includes people with very different perspectives on the pandemic, masks, social distancing, and public health orders. Some people would prefer everyone stay in masks a while longer, some would like masks to be a thing of the past immediately.

Our goal is to accommodate our church family and their different perspectives as best as we can without creating opportunities for division over secondary issues. Our focus will always be on helping people connect with Jesus and grow in their walk with Him. Where we stand on pandemic issues should never become a distraction from those priorities.

In 5 years, we will look back on this time and not care nearly as much about masks, vaccines, or social distancing. But we will care deeply about the relationships we have with each other and how we treated one another through this challenging time.

Why are we not implementing a church mask and social distance policy?

Safety is a major priority for us. At the same time, the available tools to fight the pandemic have changed in the last year. Widespread vaccine availability, the availability of medical-grade masks, several COVID-19 treatments, and a better understanding of who is most vulnerable all help us better understand how to keep people safe.

Masks and social distancing are designed to keep others safe in case one of us is an asymptomatic carrier of the virus. Now, we have a much greater ability to keep ourselves safe from those who may have the virus around us.

Any adult who wants the vaccine and doesn’t have a medical condition preventing it can get it. Anyone who wants to protect themselves from respiratory droplets in the air whether they are vaccinated or not can social distance and wear a medical-grade mask to protect themselves from airborne virus particles.

The responsibility to protect against COVID-19 is gradually shifting to each individual’s ability to protect themselves in a way that wasn’t possible a year ago.

As a result, we encourage each person to make responsible choices that are best for them, their family, and their ministry activities. And we ask everyone to keep the Good News about Jesus and our firm belief in God and His Word in a place of higher priority than disagreements about pandemic-related issues.

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Masks and Social Distancing

Overview

Worship Services

MINISTRIES

KID CONNECTION

Online Services

NEXT STEPS

Why are we not implementing a church mask and social distance policy?

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