Tuesday, December 15th, 2020
Dear friends,
This has been a challenging year, especially due to the coronavirus. In order to be good neighbors, businesses have had to suspend normal operations in order to help insure the well-being of their clients. Families have had to change their usual plans in response to the new reality we all face. Similarly, churches have had to adjust to these same circumstances. Back in March, St. Olaf Lutheran Church suspended in-person worship services. After a few months, after folks had a sense of how to resume our activities responsibly, the church council decided that the congregation could begin in-person worship services, with some notable changes and limitations.
While we have been able to relax some of our precautions, we find ourselves in the middle of a new intensification of the virus’s spread. Because of heightened risks we face at this moment, the church council, with the support of the whole congregation, has decided to put significant limitations on our Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at the Rock Church. Instead of having three services throughout the evening, we will only have one service at 6:00 p.m. In order to maintain a safe distance between families, this one service will only be able to accommodate about 75 people inside the church. With such limitations, the council decided that it would be best to have folks reserve seating for their families. Not surprisingly, all available seats were quickly spoken for.
What does this mean for members of the congregation, and our friends from the community, who were not able to secure seating from the limited pool inside the Rock Church? The implications of this question were at the heart of much discussion within the council and the broader congregation. The last thing any of us wanted to do was turn people away. In fact, over the years we have added services to avoid this very issue. We eventually concluded that, while folks would be disappointed, they would also understand the decision we had to make. To be accommodating as possible, we will be streaming the service on our Facebook page. Also, some of our members will be participating in the service from outside of the Rock Church. We plan to have a fire to keep folks outside of the church warm. Members of the church and our friends from the community are welcome to join in from just beyond the walls of the Rock Church.
St. Olaf Lutheran Church’s annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Service is an important celebration for the congregation and for the hundreds of people who attend every year. We regret that this year calls for something out of the ordinary and we ask for your understanding. The people of St. Olaf look forward to seeing you all next Christmas Eve.
May the rest of the Advent season find your hearts full of expectation for the birth of Christ and may you have a merry Christmas.
Pr. Ryan Pederson ... See more