Hey People of St. James’,
We are coming up to another milestone in our process of figuring out how to be St. James’ in the midst of pandemic. On Sunday, November 22, we are adding an 11 am in-person, outdoors, socially distanced Eucharist to our schedule. We feel confident in the safety that outdoor, masked, and distanced worship provides, but we will move back online if cases spike and we move into Stage 5 according to Austin Public Health. Until then, may we take joy and encouragement in gathering together with all safety precautions in place!
Let me help you imagine the service:
Where will the service be?
We’ve decided to use the area shaded by the trees of our prayer grove between the church and the school. It easily accommodates up to 50 socially distanced people, arranged so that households can sit together. We are limiting attendance to 30 socially distanced people, so that we can have room for guests without overcrowding.
When you arrive, you will see a table set up for checking in. At check-in, we will have a hand sanitizer station, extra masks just in case, bulletins for those who want a paper copy, and a sign-in station. Signing in is essential, because we are carefully tracking who attends in person gatherings in case we need to do contact tracing. At sign-in, we will double check with you that you checked yourself for symptoms that morning. We will also have an offertory box available if you would like to make a donation.
You will then scope out a place to sit. We invite you to bring your own chairs or blankets, which may be more comfortable than the chairs we have on hand. We will have some spots along the sidewalk designated for those who require accessible seating. You will also see spots laid out on the lawn, because sometimes it’s hard for us to figure out what 6-8 feet looks like.
What will the service be like?
This joyful eucharistic service Rite II will last for an hour and a bit. Worship leaders will be mic’d so that you can hear and understand them through the masks. There will be music, and part of the good of worshipping outside is that congregational singing [while masked] is allowed, nay, encouraged! You may want to try out a more structured mask for singing purposes so that you don’t end up with fabric in your mouth.
The service will include communion – in fact, that’s one of the main motivations for gathering in person! During the Liturgy of the table, you will notice a good bit of conspicuous hand sanitizing on the part of the celebrant. At the time of communion, if you would like to receive the bread of life, I will ask you to stand and I will come to you, masked. If you do not wish to receive, please stay seated. Once you receive the host, I would ask that you wait until I have passed by to lower your mask to consume it. The tricky part about receiving the host will be the hand-off, but we will talk about that when we get there.
When should I arrive for services?
Because we are having people sign-in, you will want to arrive 10 or so minutes early. These are not long services, so if you come 15 minutes late you will have missed half of the liturgy.
Will there be room for visitors?
Yes! It would not be a St. James’ service if there weren’t.
What is the rain plan?
If rain is expected, we will not have the service, and we will let you know by messaging you by 8 pm the evening before. Part of the benefit of registering for the service is that you will receive any rain notifications. We hope that you will join us for online services in case of rain.
Yes, you need to register!
In order to avoid overcrowding, we are encouraging you to register online or by calling the office for the 11 am services. Online registration here includes a Things To Know section and a Covenant for In-person Worship to which we’d like your assent. By registering, you will be helping us to create a safe and well-managed opportunity for worship for all.
We would love to see you at outdoor services, but we also realize that it will not be right for everyone. If online services are working for you, that’s great! If this does not fit with the precautionary measures you’re taking for your own safety because you are in a higher risk category for COVID, please do what you need to do! For the time being – online life will be the main thing, but small in person gatherings outdoors are like a low-risk bonus.
We are reshaping our table of welcome, but it is still true: wherever you are; wherever you are on your journey of faith, you are welcome at this table.
The Rev. Eileen O’Brien
