In May-June the consensus is strong to continue both the outdoor gatherings and the livestream. It seems clear that in our community there are varying viewpoints, and we want to respect that and shape ministry around that.
We will do the outdoor service at 10 am each week. The earlier time seems to work better for most families with small children. It will also be cooler once the weather starts getting hotter. We will keep services to about one hour.
From 9-9:30 each week we will have prayer outdoors in the corner of the parking lot.
The outdoor services will be a little different than our normal pre-pandemic indoor services. Usually we have babies in the nursery and toddlers in their class and the bigger kids in their separate service. But for the outdoor services we will be all together as a family.
A note to parents—please don’t worry about the children distracting the service. I don’t want the environment to be such that the kids feel restricted. We have sidewalk chalk for the kids. Some kids dance and run around. With all the city sounds it isn’t distracting at all. In fact, it is just the opposite. The kids make the atmosphere wonderful!
Masks are no longer required if you are fully vaccinated. Masks may still be worn by individuals who are not vaccinated, want to show solidarity with those unable to be fully vaccinated, or aren’t ready to unmask. Bathrooms inside the building will be open. An usher will direct to limit one at a time in each of the bathrooms. We will provide wooden folding chairs but feel free to bring your own more comfortable chair.
Registration is no longer required.
Because the weather changes in Rhode Island from day to day, we will make the call on Saturday afternoon each week through email and also a post on the homepage of our website.
If the service outdoors is cancelled then we will provide registration for a limited-seating indoor service (40 seats). For an indoor service we would encourage families with small children to watch online because of the sensitivity of livestream recording indoors.
Each Sunday we will continue to provide a livestream option whether we are indoors or outdoors for those who are not ready to gather in-person.
Pastor Scott
June Shift
Starting in June we will bring our services indoors—unless the weather is perfect. We will also start easing into kids ministry starting with the kids 4+. I know that some parents have little ones who would be very challenging to have in the service. We just don’t have enough volunteers yet to provide kids ministry to the 0-3 kids. What we can do is have the classrooms open for parents to use. And we’ll have a staff person on site to address needs.
When we begin indoor services in June I imagine most of us will be fully vaccinated so masks will not be required. We have not done a survey, but I’m sure that a certain percentage of those who attend Ren will not yet be fully vaccinated for various reasons.
They may just be late in getting vaccinated.
They may not be able to be vaccinated because of health reasons.
They may not be old enough.
They may not feel comfortable getting the vaccine and have chosen not to get it.
If you fall into any of these categories we encourage mask wearing so that Covid doesn’t spread among those in our community who aren’t vaccinated. This is what the CDC is saying, and it makes sense. From a Christian standpoint it’s setting aside our personal touts for the sake of loving our neighbors.
If I’m not planning on getting vaccinated will I have to wear a mask forever? Good question. No. Rhode Island is #2 in the entire country of total Covid cases per capita. I’m not sure why, but this is a fact. The number of cases, however, continues to steadily decline. When the daily number of Covid cases drops to single digits in Rhode Island, then, everyone can drop the masks if they are comfortable doing so. No one can predict when that will be, but we are quickly moving toward that point. Praise God!
Let’s continue to be patient. Let’s stay unified and let’s continue to love our neighbors well. Because of our carefulness we’ve not seen any spread of Covid from any of our Ren gatherings. Thank you for following the guidelines so carefully during this pandemic. My old pastor used to say, “The hardest part of faith is the last half hour.” Let’s not get sloppy toward the end. We’re almost there!
RenKids in June
This Sunday [June 6] we’ll begin easing back into kids ministry. Here’s what the month looks like.
June 6th - 4 years old to 5th grade
June 13th - (full) 0-5th grade
June 20th - 4 years old to 5th grade
June 27th - (full) 0-5th grade
On the weeks with limited kids ministry (6th and 20th) the rooms for the smaller children (0-3 years old) will be open for parents to use if needed. The nursing mom room is also back open weekly.