May 17, 2020

Dear Members and Friends of Berkeley Springs Presbyterian Church,

After a long 10 weeks of not being able to worship together due to the restrictions brought about by COVID-19, the session is happy to announce that we will be re-opening the church for worship and adult Sunday school on May 31, 2020, Pentecost Sunday.

We will be following guidelines that the state and presbytery has provided for us. We ask that you read over the guidelines below and be prepared to follow them when returning to church. Even if you do not agree with the guidelines, you must still follow them to protect not only yourself but others who are attending. No exceptions. We love you all and are committed to keeping everyone safe so we can continue to worship together.

Guidelines are as follows:

• Masks will be required when entering and exiting the church – you may take the masks off when everyone has been seated, as long as you remain with your immediate family unit.
• Please sit only in pews where bulletins have been placed and sit only with your immediate family unit – this will allow the social distancing that is still required.
• Music will still be a part of our service but there will not be any singing – feel free to follow along with the hymns in your hymnal.
• Pre-filled communion cups will be used and placed in the pews on communion Sunday.
• Passing of the peace will now be a wave from your pew – please refrain from shaking hands or hugging
• The offering plate will only be handled by those taking up the offering. If needed, they will go through the empty pews in front of you so only one person is handling the plate.
• Hand sanitizer will be available in the narthex and in the social hall.
• The lay leader or minister will dismiss family units by pew at the end of the service.
• Please refrain from congregating in the church, narthex or outside unless you can maintain a distance of 6 feet apart.
• Signs will be posted in the bathrooms which should be used as a guideline for sanitizing before and after use.
• Events such as weddings and funerals will be reviewed on a case by case basis – guidelines will still need to be followed for these events.
• Use of buildings from outside groups will be suspended until the end of June.
• Vacation Bible School is on hold. We will follow the school openings and plan bible school at that time.
• We will continue with virtual services for those who feel they are not quite ready to attend worship at the church.
• The buildings will be cleaned and sanitized each week after service and used only by essential personnel during the week. Anyone entering the buildings during the week will sanitize as needed to keep our buildings safe.

Even with following all the guidelines above, if there is a flareup of COVID-19 again, our church will follow the WV guidelines and close again if needed.

We look forward to being together again and feel even though our church will look and worship differently for a while, it will be wonderful to worship together!

If you do not feel like you are ready to venture out quite yet, we still love you and even though we will miss having you in church physically, we will worship with you in our hearts and understand the reasons you have for remaining at home.

If you have any questions, please contact Raynette Mock at 304-671-6175 or Adrienne North at 304-261-9092.

Yours in Christ,

Raynette Mock – Administrator

Adrienne North – Clerk of Session