A Joyful Return to Corporate

Worship at St. John’s, Sparta!

Dear members of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church and School,

We have endured, adapted and are now poised to enjoy our return to God’s house of worship together! Your congregational leadership is planning a controlled return to worship on May 31 with 8am, 10:30am and Monday night service offered.

A controlled return to worship reflects what we have endured as a congregation while easing us back into a scheduled restoration of full and familiar worship. Indeed, a controlled return to worship demonstrates the same loving care by which we handled worship during the quarantine.

In making those decisions, our desire has been to follow the principles the Lord sets out for us in the 3rd, 4th and 5th Commandments. For instance, we keep in mind that God’s command for us to gladly hear and learn his Word never stops (3rd Commandment). We also remember he has told us to honor and obey those in authority unless they clearly tell us to go against his Word (4th Commandment). And, in all we do, to demonstrate love for our neighbor and their physical well-being (5th Commandment). These are the reasons we have been worshiping the way we have been over the past two months and why we will be implementing guidelines to return us to worship.

The intent is to implement a structured order that serves the entire range of congregational members: from those who may be comfortable to return without any restrictions as well as to those who are eager to return as long as health safety concerns are sincerely addressed.

While there are no governmental mandates on what we can and cannot do, we will take into consideration guidelines that have been put out by county health departments. We have also coordinated our efforts with the other WELS churches within our circuit, as far as we are able. Therefore, to minimize risk and anxiety, we will take the following steps. Please read carefully:

Responsible distancing will be practiced within the sanctuary and building – keeping at least a 6 foot distance from one another. This means we will only be using every other pew, with certain rows being unavailable. Pews will be filled from the front as people arrive. Family units may sit together. We will have ushers help you to find a place to sit.
Since the entire sanctuary will not be available for seating and we do not wish to send anyone away if we hit our temporary capacity, we will ask people to register for a worship service. This will be done within the church office or by calling the church office (269-4966) to set aside seating. Registering for May 31 worship will be opened at 9am on May 26.
The entire service will be made available in a printed bulletin which should then be brought home with you. We will not reuse bulletins and the hymnals will be removed for now. All bulletin details and liturgy directions will also appear on our worship screen.
Concern has arisen over the increased spread of droplets when we sing. Singing is such an important part of our faithful response that we will continue to do so, however we will temporarily reduce both the number of hymns as well as the number of verses from those hymns.
Communion will return on June 7. You will be ushered forward in limited numbers. Wafers and wine will be placed into individual cups for you to receive. We ask that families provide space between each other as you move forward. You will receive the wafer and then move forward to receive the wine before returning to your seat. The blessing will be pronounced over everyone together after all have been served.
Fellowship is a blessing we embrace well at St. John’s, no pun intended! However, it won’t be a surprise to hear that we need to limit it temporarily. Service times are posted above. There will be no Sunday morning Bible study until announced. As you are attending, we would ask you to arrive no earlier than 15 minutes before service begins and promptly find your seat in worship. Ushers will be asked to arrive 30 minutes prior to worship and to remain after service to reset the sanctuary. Common areas will be disinfected before each service.
We ask everyone to hold the balcony in reserve for those who feel most anxious.
Dismissal at end of service will be started from the back of the sanctuary so that no one needs to walk through a group of people to exit. Please wait for the ushers to dismiss your pew. As you are ushered out, please disperse into the parking lot.
Offering plates will be placed in the back of church for your use as you leave.
Friendship registers have been removed from the pews for now.
Hand sanitizer will be available as you enter and as you exit.

We understand that not everyone will feel comfortable returning to worship immediately. There is no guilt with staying home for now, nor is there guilt in returning. For no reason should anyone feel pressured to attend or to stay away. It is a personal decision. To help your decision, we will continue to broadcast over the radio and with Facebook Live for our 8am worship.

Equally divided may be the topic of masks. If you feel more comfortable wearing a mask, please do so. If you feel more comfortable not wearing a mask, please do so. No one should burden someone else’s conscience in this decision. As an example of our Christian freedom, Pastor will not wear a mask during worship but will wear one before and after worship for a little while.

These decisions have not been made lightly and we appreciate your patience in allowing us to get them distributed as promptly as possible without pressure. We also appreciate your consideration and courtesy in following these guidelines. This will be a temporary situation which allows us to demonstrate our commitment to our Lord and to each other. In this, we certainly are honoring the intent of Ephesians 4:1-3 which says, “I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. Live with all humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

God bless you and keep you safe! Please contact me if you have any questions!

Pastor John Meyer
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