Moving Forward Together as the COVID-19 Pandemic Ends
St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church
Boulder, CO + June - august 2021
What You Need to Know
Here’s the summary of what is happening this summer as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes (and we pray that this is, truly, the end), and also know that households will be catching up with travel and time with family and friends that we have missed for the past 15 months. The rest of the document describes how we got to these decisions and how you can help.
Sunday, June 20 through Sunday, August 15
8:30am Holy Eucharist In Person Inside (Church)
10am Zoom Worship
5pm Holy Eucharist In Person Outside or Inside (Chapel)
after August 15
Fall Schedule will be determined later this summer
To sign up for the 8:30am in person inside Holy Eucharist, please use this link every week, signing up by Friday at 5pm for a Sunday morning: www.tinyurl.com/SA2021Summer. We will only use this registration until we have a sense of the number of households that plan to worship at 8:30am on Sundays.
When we are inside we will continue to wear masks (except when receiving Holy Communion) and physically distance. We can have up to 40 households in the church; if we reach that capacity more than one Sunday, the schedule will be adjusted. We need at least one volunteer to serve as the check-in person for every service. All summer fellowship will be informal and outside; coffee provided only if there are volunteers to set up and clean up.
Also note these special events:
Saturday, June 19 10am Front Range Regional Confirmation with Bishop Kym Lucas Outside
Sunday, June 27 5pm Outside + Hymns and the Choir Singing
Sunday July 25 + Traveling Mercies Celebration for our Two Seminarians
Background: How we got here
This summer we ask you to join us in a spirit of consistency (the word of God and the gift of gathering God’s people in new and different ways), flexibility (we won’t get everything right every step of the way, and we will gracefully adjust as we move forward), and openness to new things.
When we worship in person in the church, it will not be the same as it was, but it will be the worship of God’s people, gathered for holy purpose, in order to be empowered by the Spirit to love and care for the world and invite others into the gift of the Good News of Jesus. We have longed to return to church together in the same room - this is how we can do it best for the whole community.
What Matters to Us: Values and following Jesus Christ
Our priority, for love’s sake, has always been to keep all of God’s people safe from the virus, and to keep our connections to each other and to the Church without risking the transmission of COVID-19. By moving forward together we will:
Worship in our church building, together, safely;
Allow those who are not able to attend worship in-person to participate as full members of the community by working to maintain an online worship presence;
Build the body of Christ through worship so that we can serve the community around us in ministry, love, outreach, and evangelism
Moving forward together in a way that is sustainable for our clergy, staff, volunteers, and resources.
Making Hard Decisions: Some of the constraints we have
The pandemic has shown us how interconnected we are in every way. We will continue to comply with many layers of information, including state, county regulations and also diocesan guidelines. We also have considerations peculiar to our context, including:
Building Constraints: We have no air purifier or filtration system in the church. We do not have windows to open, other than a few doors. Without air conditioning, the church and the church building can be very hot in the summer months.
Budget constraints: With the losses from parking income in 2020, we chose not to spend money on AV equipment and installation yet, and to discern what we need to invest in for the long term this spring and summer, through the Technology and Broadcast Committee working now until the end of July.
Changing Staff: Since COVID-19 and our income losses, we have been operating with minimal office staff. In order to produce what is needed for worship in-person, including paper and online bulletins, we will need to increase staffing levels. We will also need to staff for AV management for our online. We also do not have Nursery Staff or Sunday School in any form at this time. We are in a transition with our music staff.
Physical Distancing: Even in our large church, we can have a maximum of 40 households with physical distancing requirements (6’ between households). The sanitizing requirements (CDC) along with staff limitations, mean holding more than one indoor service in one space on a Sunday is a significant burden.
Volunteer Needs: In keeping with diocesan guidelines, each person who comes to in person worship inside must check-in with contact information and do a quick COVID19 health check, for the purposes of contact tracing. We need volunteers for this service every week, and training will be provided at 8:10am every Sunday starting June 20.
Liability: Effective April 1st, 2021, the Episcopal Church insurer no longer covers churches for COVID-19 related claims.
Volunteers: We need YOU to be the church we are called to be
As we begin to use the building, we will need volunteers to support everything we are doing, as we have always needed. If we do not have Volunteer support, including some new volunteer roles, we will not be able to meet the needs of moving together forward.
The Altar Guild will prepare our spaces for Holy Eucharist;
We need check-in volunteers for every in-person service (at least 1) for contact tracing
Volunteers will be needed to (re)start ministries such as hospitality, welcoming, and singing.
Moving Forward Together: please consider these things
When we return to in-person worship indoors, it will feel and look different than it did in March 2020. Each person among us has gone through a pandemic, and will need to move forward at the pace that is right for them. Vaccines are not yet available for children. Please be gracious with yourself and with others, and be ready to do your part as a member of the household of faith.
Second, we already have members who are unable to attend in-person; others may be unable to because of vulnerability or illness. We already have some members who live far enough away that worshipping online may be the norm. Will you support staffing, ministry, and volunteering for worship that meets these needs, or tries to, as we move forward together?