STARTING MAY 16, 2021 - First Christian Church's in-person and online worship services are Sundays at 9:15 am & 10:45 am (identical services). Nursery, Children's, Students', and Adults' Sunday in-person classes are 9:15 am & 10:45 am, as well.
Here is our latest video update from our Lead Minister, Matthew Rogers.
Details about Phase 3 of our Re-Opening which took effect on Sunday, September 13, 2020.
As of September 13, 2020 our worship service times of 9:15 am and 11:00 am (EDT) will remain intact.
NURSERY for children 0-24 months will be available at both service times.
PRESCHOOL activities for children ages 2 through Kindergarten will be available at both service times. At 9:15 am there will be preschool Sunday School classes and at 11:15 we will offer Preschool Children’s Church.
ELEMENTARY activities for children in grades 1-6 will be available at both service times as well. At 9:15 there will be Elementary Sunday School classes. And at 11:15 we will offer Elementary Children’s Church.
MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL students will have the opportunity to attend the main worship service at 9:15 and then go to their classes at 11:00.
ALL CLASS INFORMATION AVAILABLE HERE.
There will also be ADULT classes offered at 9:15 and 11:00 as well. The listing of adult classes is available here. Two adult classes will meet at 9:15 and three adult classes will meet at 11:00. One of the 11:00 am class is a brand new one, specifically for young adults and college students.
Details about Phase 2 of our Re-Opening Process which began on Sunday, August 2.
As you may know we resumed in-person worship services on Sunday, June 14. That was Phase 1 of our plan. Since then we have continued to observe our state and local community approaches to re-openings and gatherings. And we have also been monitoring how things are going with our gatherings at church. With all that in mind, we have set Sunday, August 2 as the date for PHASE 2 of our re-opening plan.
Phase 2 will entail…
- New worship times of 9:15 and 11:00 am
- The re-opening of Children’s Church for Grades 1-6
- The introduction of something we are calling the INBETWEEN – a time of fellowship between the worship services
Here are some details about each of those items.
NEW WORSHIP TIMES OF 9:15 AND 11:00 AM
When we resumed worship on June 14, we set the times at 9:00 and 11:15 to allow for a full hour in between the services for cleaning and sanitation. After doing this for several weeks, we are at the place where we can do this effectively in roughly 30 minutes. So we are shortening the time in between our services, and changing the times to 9:15 and 11:00. Essentially starting the first service 15 minutes later, and the second service 15 minutes earlier.
This will be a much more manageable schedule for everyone to engage with the eventual activities during both time slots. For instance you could attend a worship service at 9:15 and then serve or attend a Sunday School class at 11:00. Or vice versa – you could serve or attend a Sunday School class at 9:15 and then go to worship at 11:00. We are not ready yet to resume Sunday School, but hopefully you can see how this time adjustment in the morning schedule will be a benefit.
One thing to note, we will no longer be spraying down the chairs in the worship room between services. They will be sprayed down each week prior to Sunday morning - but not in between the services. Based on what we have gathered from health professionals, the likelihood of the coronavirus being transmitted off of a cloth surface is almost non-existent. So as we understand it, there is no real safety difference if we now adjust to simply spraying down the chairs on a weekly basis as our safety protocol.
THE REOPENING OF CHILDREN’S CHURCH FOR GRADES 1-6
The request to churches from the State of Indiana is that we withhold children’s activities until local schools re-open. Warsaw Community Schools have already resumed in-person summer school classes, and they are on target to resume the fall semester in person as well. So, on August 2 we will take our initial step toward gathering for children’s activities by offering Children’s Church for Grades 1-6 at 11:00 am on Sundays.
Many guidelines for how this will work will be communicated to parents from our Children’s Ministry team. In short, social distancing will be maintained in the Children’s Church room which is large enough to do so, temperature will be taken with a touch-less thermometer as kids and teachers arrive, and we will do our best to provide both a safe and effective experience for all.
Again, this is our initial step toward gatherings for children. In upcoming phases we will re-open the nursery and pre-school environments, as well as re-open Sunday School for all ages.
We are committed to providing you with at least 2 weeks of advance notice prior to upcoming Phases.
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE IN-BETWEEN
With the new service times of 9:15 and 11:00, we will be able to cross paths with many of the people who attend worship at the other time slot from us.
As we have monitored the number of people in the building on Sundays as well as our overall space to socially distance, we believe we can certainly provide this fellowship time in a safe manner.
We will be serving coffee, offering pre-packaged refreshments, and pre-packaged beverages for kids.
While we visit we can maintain social distance either in the worship room or outdoors. We know that with the 2 service times it is important to maintain relationships with people you would have ordinarily seen at church. And we hope this will provide a safe and enjoyable way for that to occur at the INBETWEEN.
As you can see, Phase 2 offers some exciting steps forward, and it all takes effect on Sunday, August 2.
Much love,
Matthew Rogers
Lead Minister
A message from our local churches to the residents of Kosciusko County. WE ARE HERE TO SERVE!