Church Reopening Message

From Fr. Nick Kotsis - Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, this Sunday, June 21st, we will officially open our church to Phase I of the reopening plan we have been given by the Metropolis.  I am grateful for the diligent work of the parish council and ushers as we begin this process.  In particular, Dave Price and Steve Melzian have done extraordinary work preparing us for the reopening of in-person services.
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The details of the reopening of in-person services can be found at this link.
 
However, here are some bullet points to keep in mind.

• We have limited seating available.  We can seat about 150 people adhering to the guidelines.  Some pews are blocked-off and cannot be used to maintain proper social distancing guidelines.  Please follow the instructions of the ushers as they will help guide you to proper seating areas.
• The invitation to the services is open to everyone.  We will not take online reservations or call only certain groups to come in on certain Sundays.  However, seats are not guaranteed because of the social distancing guidelines.  It will be prudent to come to church on time.
• If there are no seats available, you will not be asked to go home, but you will have to wait outside of the church proper until the time to receive Holy Communion.  Then you will be brought in to receive Holy Communion if you desire.  
• If you are sick or have symptoms of illness, please stay home and wait until you no longer have the symptoms before coming back to church. 
• Everyone must wear a mask (infants and the youngest children can be the exceptions).
• No one will be turned away because of age.
• When in church and it’s time to come forward to receive Holy Communion, remain in your pews until an usher comes to guide you forward.  As you come up the aisle, take a paper napkin.  You will unfold it and hold it under your chin when you receive Holy Communion (an assistant will also hold the red Communion cloth as usual underneath the napkin you are to hold).  Please tilt you head back a bit and the priest will tilt the spoon and the Holy Communion into your mouth without touching your mouth.  I will remind people of these procedures just prior to the distribution of Holy Communion.  Please also read the protocol in the link above for more details on this issue.
• Antidoron will be distributed at the end of the Liturgy, not after Holy Communion.

 
Also, this Sunday, we will recognize the high-school seniors who have graduated following the Divine Liturgy, but we will not have our usual Church School graduation program.
 
I know I speak for Fr. Alex and Fr. Vasili when I tell you that we look forward to this first step in the normalization process and seeing your faces (albeit masked!) this Sunday!
 
God bless,
Fr. Nick