March 11, 2021

This week , Maryland Governor Hogan and Anne Arundel County Executive Pittman both lifted the previous limits for gatherings, including churches.  This was reported to have been in response to increasing vaccinations and decreasing COVID infections.  With Easter just a few weeks away, it is important that we share our current plans.

If you want to skip the background information, and just get to our current plan, skim down to the section titled Our Plan below.

Our plans still rest on the metrics we have in place.  Once the 7-day moving average positivity rate are below 5% for two weeks AND hospitalizations for COVID are below 75 in our county, we may begin offering in-person worship services indoors.  If positivity rates or hospitalizations go above those metrics, we suspend in-person worship immediately.  Likewise, if someone attends in-person worship who is found to have tested positive within a short period of time after attending worship, we suspend worship for two weeks.

Forecasting what infection rates will be in the coming weeks is essentially impossible.  By these metrics, February 18 started a two-week lead up to in-person worship, but on March 2, (13 days later) positivity rates went above 5%.  Three days later, March 5, our county saw positivity rates drop below 5% once again.  This started a new 14-day countdown.

The CDC guidelines continue to recommend limited time indoors, social distancing, masking, and discourages singing.  When we resume in-person worship, the restrictions we had in place for in-person worship last fall will continue to be our guiding principles.  That means there will be limited attendance for indoor worship.

Planning for in-person worship AND the possibility of online only worship in the coming weeks is complicated and at least twice the work for already stretched worship staff.  This is particularly true for Easter.

Therefore, we’ve developed the following plan for worship, contingent upon the metrics described above.

Our Plan

We are prepared to livestream all worship services at 9:30 am Sundays as we have been doing.  They will be livestreamed on both Facebook and YouTube.  Details can always be found at ourshepherd.com on the front page.

March 14: We will worship online only

March 21: We will worship online only

March 28: One in-person worship service at 9:30 am with Holy Communion.

Because this depends on the metrics described above, the Life Together on Friday, March 26 and our website will confirm whether this worship service will be in-person or not.

April 1 (Maundy Thursday): In-person worship at 7:30 pm with Holy Communion.

April 2 (Good Friday) In-person worship at 7:30 pm.

Note that this will not be a full Tenebrae Good Friday service.  It will be reflective and quiet.

April 4 (Easter Sunday) Reservations requested.  Masking required.  With Holy Communion

Reservations are requested.  Because we have social-distancing requirements, there is limited space available for all Easter worship services.

Reserve your space here: Reserve your Easter Worship time. The reservation system is live now.

6:30 am Sunrise Outdoor Worship in the Memorial Garden.

Note that this service will happen no matter the weather or COVID restrictions.  It is not subject to our metrics.  Masks will be required.

7:30 am in-person worship in the sanctuary.

8:45 am Outdoor Worship in the Memorial Garden.

Note that this service will happen no matter the weather or COVID restrictions.  It is not subject to our metrics.  Masks will be required.

9:30 am in-person worship in the sanctuary.

This service will be livestreamed.  We will be celebrating a baptism.

April 11: Online Worship only.  No in-person worship.  Synod-led worship.

 

I look forward to seeing you in worship again when you deem it to be safe for you.

Pastor Earl