May 2021
Council Corner
The council met on April 18 and held one of our longer meetings in a while. First on the agenda was Confirmation. It was reported that Confirmation will be held this year in October instead of May. The decision was made mainly due to COVID. The Confirmands will still have to meet the same requirements but they get four more months to meet them.
The second item on our agenda was the Habit for Humanity 500. I mentioned this in the newsletter last month but wanted to mention it again. The council has agreed to pay for any Confirmands who wish to register for this event and possibly count this toward their volunteer hours. They will be joined by Pastor Birk and hopefully multiple adults from our congregation. Feel free to register for this great event.
The council then talked about office hours for our administrative assistant. Office hours can vary from week to week and day-to-day depending on the requirements of his full-time weekday job. Subsequently, we made the decision that anyone wishing to meet with our administrative assistant can make appointments with him when needed during the weekday time period. He can be reached either at the church number (218)984-2037 or his personal number (218)410-3253. The administrative assistant office hours on Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. will stay the same.
The big issue on the agenda was the revising of our COVID-19 plan. Now that we are thirteen months into the pandemic, the council felt some changes could be made safely. The plan that we devised is listed below and will be posted at both entrances to our church.
If congregation members are not feeling well, please stay home.
Bulletins will continue to be placed on a table near the entrance. Instead of recycling bulletins as members leave the church, they will be encouraged to keep their bulletins.
Every other pew will be blocked off in order to encourage social distancing.
Congregation members will sit in family units. No intermingling of family units will be allowed.
Congregations members will have the option of sitting in the basement (speakers available) or in the meeting room just off the sanctuary.
Masks for adults will be required.
The traditional collection of the offering will not take place. The offering plates (adult, children, & WELCA) will be placed at the entrance and exits of the building.
Singing along with the songs during services will be allowed as long as those singing are wearing masks. To avoid touching the hymnals, the words for the songs will be displayed by a projector.
For those reading lessons and Psalms, it is no longer required to wipe off the microphone before and after you are done speaking. However, for those who wish, disinfectant wipes will still be placed on the lectern.
No coffee n’ will take place after services until further notice.
Traditional Communion will not take place at this time. We will continue with the individual Communion packets.
The sharing of the peace will continue to be done through the waving of hands in lieu of shaking hands.
If the use of the church building is needed for large events (funerals, weddings, etc.), please contact someone from the church to indicate your interest. Requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Please remember that we are still required to abide by social distancing rules and attendance limits as provided by our state government.
As usual, I would like to end this newsletter on a positive note. It was announced today during our council meeting that our organist, Sharon Kamppi, will be returning to church on the first Sunday of May. Welcome back, Sharon!
May God grant you peace until we meet again next month…….
In God’s Name,
Lance Kupka
Council President
Hope Lutheran Church of Embarrass