Dear friends in Christ,

Last week, we marked the one year anniversary of the moment when the COVID pandemic turned life upside down for us, especially as we had to close our doors for in-person worship. Thankfully, we were able to reopen last June, weathered the up and down nature of the virus’ effects, and have had no cases come from the gatherings we have had here at Trinity. I feel that this has been because of the precautions that we have taken, as well as our own individual caution, care, and concern we have shown to each other. Thank you to you all for all that you have done and for the patience and understanding that you have had as we have gone through this time together.

As we have often been reminded, this time we are in is not quite over yet. But, with a decrease in cases and the ongoing efforts of vaccinations, we are certainly seeing a hope for things to return to at least a “new normal” again. Our governor recently began a relaxing of restrictions which have been in place since last spring; and our county executive, still being cautious, has done the same, though at a more conservative pace.

For us here at Trinity, this has meant that we are now able to increase our in-person attendance for worship from 25% to 50%, which is to say from 31 persons to 63 persons. As we noted even under the 25% rule, these numbers have allowed a small congregation like ours to have been able to open our doors to pretty much all of our regular attendees based on our average worship attendance. With the increase to 50%, one could say that we are “fully open” once more.

While this is a cause for rejoicing, especially as we near our Holy Week and Easter celebrations, we do want to note that we will continue to be cautious and vigilant as this health crisis, though lessened, does continue. For that reason, the COVID protocols which we set into place when we opened our doors last June will continue. In general, this means that masks will continue to need to be worn; and we will continue to observe distancing when seating for worship, as well as in our “fellowship conversations” we have with one another while in the building. You can review our “Trinity Stay-Safe Rules” which are printed weekly in the Sunday Bulletin, and can be found on the church website under our reopening information.

As for our Holy Week and Easter celebrations, please look for a message next week to bring you an update on our plans for worship together.

God’s blessings to you all in the remaining days of this week, and I look forward to being together with you for worship this coming Lord’s Day.

Peace in Christ,
+Pastor