Everyone is pleased that the Coronavirus case count trend is decreasing each day, as anticipated by our medical and scientific community.  That positive news has precipitated COVID policies and protocols to be relaxed which in turn effects how we as a church operate.  Like everyone else, we are shifting away from an overly cautious approach and back to a more palatable stance.  The following guidelines will help lead us as we look to the future with a bit of hope.

1. Starting Sunday March 6^th, we will go back to having our two regularly scheduled worship services @ 8:30 a.m. for our more traditional service and our 10:15 a.m. for our less traditional service.  We are thrilled that both the Sanctuary Choir and Finally @ First will be participating in the services.  This will be the First Sunday of Lent so it is a good Sunday to get back into the habit of coming to church.  Naturally, for those of you who choose to stay home, we will still stream our 8:30 a.m. service and put it on our webpage @ fccej.org.

2. Meetings and Groups will be shifting back to a hybrid model where those folks who want to be in person can come and sit with their fellow committee members or friends.  Those that want to participate in our church community via Zoom, will be able to remain engaged and active via the internet. 

3. Masks are still required during worship and our in-person gatherings. 

4. Some of the events that have been on hold will resume, like our Friday Morning Coffee Clatter at Martone’s every Friday morning at 8:00 a.m. or our Bridge Club on the 3^rd Friday of every month from 1:30 to 4:00 p.m. in the Marvin Lounge.  Our Essex Eats Out program that provides free meals to the community on the first Friday of every month will begin on March 4^th and transition back into production by offering meals to folks who will remain seated and in their cars in our parking lot. 

5. Pastoral Visits will now be open to personal interactions so feel free to invite Rev. Mark or Rev. Josh over for any pastoral conversations or rituals. 

6. Starting March 6^th, our Faith Formation Program will be in-person only and during the 10:15 a.m. service time.  And our youth group will begin meeting in person and go back to the two group format: Junior Youth after church and High School Sunday afternoons.

Updated January 12, 2022

Again we find ourselves shifting our behaviors to react to the ongoing changes concerning the Coronavirus and the new omicron strain.  Vermont just registered its highest single day case infection number and our hospital occupancy rate continues to rise with medical professionals sounding the alarm.  Your staff and church leadership are moving the church to a more cautious stance for January and will re-evaluate the situation in February.  The following steps are designed to both keep us safe and continue to offer us avenues in which we can remain connected.

1. Church Committees / Groups are asked to conduct meetings via Zoom. 
2. Clergy/staff will refrain from in-person pastoral visits unless appropriate.
3. Outside Groups will make their own decision whether they will continue to meet in our facilities; if so, they will be required to wear masks and conduct contact tracing.
4. Our Outreach Groups [Thrift Store, Food Pantry, Essex Eats Out, etc] will determine whether to continue operating and if so what covid protocols they will take.  For now, the Thrift Store has decided to close for January and the Heavenly Food Pantry will shift back to delivering  food to people in the parking lot.  Coincidentally, Essex Eats Out [our free meal once a month group] will start up again in February with take out only and deliver the meals to the parking lot.
5. We will continue to hold BOTH our hybrid [streamed and in-person] 8:30 a.m. worship service AND our 10:15 a.m. service.  This will give people a choice and spread out the number of people at each service while providing the ever-important opportunity for human interaction, something sorely lacking in today’s isolating context. 
   1. The Sanctuary Choir will take January off while Finally @ First will continue to offer us their inspiring music at the 10:15 a.m. service.  We will continue to sing while masked at each service and require signing in for contract tracing.
   2. We continue with two services because everyone has been so respectful of our requirement of wearing masks and because Governor Scott has not limited indoor groups from meeting if they follow the above protocols.  Thank you all.
6. UPDATE 12-Jan: After the spike in cases, Rick Dooley and Finally @ First have decided to not provide their fantastic music during our in person service.  With both the Sanctuary Choir AND Finally @ First not performing, we have determined to only have ONE SERVICE @ 10 a.m. Because we believe in the importance of providing a time for folks to love and support each other in community, we will continue to have our one service at 10 a.m. be live and in person.  It will naturally be streamed for all to enjoy from the comfort of your homes starting at 10 am every Sunday morning.
7. As always, these new protocols can change quickly depending on how the situation unfolds.  Thank you all for being flexible, gracious and active in our church as she continues to adapt to the ever-morphing coronavirus.

Please seriously consider getting vaccinated or boostered if you have not already done so and pray for the health and safety of people suffering from the virus, our front-line workers in the medical field and elsewhere and our church as we seek to spread Christ’s love during this time of anxiety, uncertainty and fear.  If any of you have needs that our faith community can help with, please do not hesitate to call the church office or one of our staff members [802 878-5745].

May God continue to bless us all, in Christ’s name, amen.

Rev. Mark

As you may have seen, the CDC is recommending everyone to wear facemasks in counties with substantial or high COVID transmission. Their recommendation comes after data shows that the Delta variant can be as transmissible from an infected vaccinated person as in an infected unvaccinated person. It needs to be noted that what is called breakthrough cases, when a vaccinated person becomes infected with COVID, are very rare. The data continues to show that the most effective way to stop the spread of COVID-19 and help those who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated is to wear a facemask. Rather than going to the CDC’s Data Tracker to know if Chittenden county, on any given day, is categorized to be in a state of substantial or high transmission, at this time and for the foreseeable future, we are strongly encouraging everyone—vaccinated and unvaccinated—to wear a facemask when attending worship or other events on the church property. The Heavenly Food Pantry continues to require all volunteers and clients to wear a facemask. As the Body of Christ, which we are all members of, as Paul wrote, “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (1 Corinthians 12:26). See you at church!

Dear Friends:

The Executive Committee [EC] of Church Council met on May 6^th to continue our discussion on how our church should adjust our many ministries to the unfolding of the coronavirus.  Gov. Scott and the Vermont Department of Health continues its slow and steady course of returning to a more open culture in stages.  With the increasing number of people in Vermont being vaccinated, the EC has determined to follow Gov. Scott’s lead and open our worship and facility up more and yet still maintain standard safety protocols.  We will apply the following new rules of engagement on Sunday, May 16^th.

For worship, that means…

• Going from 12 to 25 pews with open seating [every other pew].
• Ushers no longer taking people’s temperatures or asking safety questions.
• No longer requiring the use of sign-up genius to attend church…
  • Just come and show up to get a seat: first come – first serve.
  • We have not filled up yet so hope not to turn anyone away.
  • If forced to turn folks away, the EC will discuss alternatives.
• Everyone will just simply sign in at the narthex for contact tracing].
• Wearing masks and keeping proper distancing will still be required.
• WE WILL SING HYMNS QUIETLY WITH MASKS ON.
• We will welcome instrumental music into worship [no wind instruments].
• Masked singers can perform in small numbers.
• Windows will remain open so bring something warm to wear.
• Fellowship Hour will be outside, weather permitting.
• Communion will be observed outside, weather permitting.
• Smaller weddings and funerals can take place w/ safety protocols.
• Our service will continue to be streamed for those who wish to stay at home.

 For wider church life, that means…

• Committees can meet in person if they wear masks and practice safe distancing.
• Outside groups can begin to use our facility [masks / distancing].
• By May 16^th, both our clergy will be vaccinated plus two…
  • So, they will be glad to make pastoral visits: call 802 878 5745 to arrange.

The EC makes these changes to encourage our members to come back to church but continue to remain vigilant in following effective health protocols.As is always the case, if the outlook changes, we will respond to keep our members and friends safe.Because so many people have connected with our church via worship through our streamed services, we will continue to do so and work to maintain the highest quality on line service possible.

Thank you all for your patience and grace during this ever-changing covid time.Balancing cautious safety for our members with everyone’s desire to be together has been a challenging balancing act.Together may we continue to move forward as future opportunities for ministries present themselves.

We are grateful to be working for you as the Executive Committee. 

Maureen Evans – Christine Sinkewicz – Alison Wermer
Cathy Shearer – Dan Petherbridge – Josh Simon
Mark Mendes