May 20, 2020
Dear brothers & sisters in Christ,
“God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.”
(Psalm 46:1)
Times are changing. We have passed the two-month mark of having guidelines in place of where we can go, how many of us can go, how far apart we must stand and how things should be handled. We are still very far from the end of these days. While some things scale down, other things continue in place.
It has been two months since many of us have been able to worship in a public worship setting. For many of us worship has come to us on our computers, smart phones, or other forms of technology.
Throughout these past two months, our God has remained faithful as He promised and led us through by the unfailing assurances and promises of His Word as we gathered in whatever way we have been able to feed upon that Word, worshiped His name, and responded in thanksgiving to His many blessings to us.
With “Safer at Home” revoked by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in early May the guidelines we follow now are from the Sheboygan County Health Department. Church Council met on Tuesday, May 19th, 2020 determining our next steps. The Council agreed that we will resume our public worship services again.
We will resume our worship services on the weekend of Thursday, May 28th @ 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 31st @ 8 & 10:15 a.m. The major change is that we are limited to 25% of capacity, which is 58.
While our worship services will be in the same structure, there will be changes in a number of different areas. This is why I am writing this letter. I have enclosed a sheet to give you some of the changes that will be taking place in:
- Worship service times
- Seating
- Attendance
- Supplies for worship
- Communion
- Worship online
- and other items.
This is not an exhaustive list. You may notice other changes as well. I encourage you to read through them and if you have any questions, I invite you to give me or a council member a call to receive more information.
We have also included a very short survey to give us a rough idea of what we can expect attendance-wise for our first weekend. We ask that you please fill them out as soon as possible and return them in the enclosed self-addressed postage paid envelope.
We look forward to seeing you soon. Our God is faithful and loving and does not change. We remember the words of Psalm 46:1 – “GOD is our refuge and strength.” He IS—ALWAYS!
Shalom in Jesus our Risen Messiah,
Rev. Peter M. Peitsch, Pastor
Grace Lutheran Church—Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
and Church Council
Enclosure: “Returning from ‘Safer at Home’”