Welcome To Kellogg's Hill Church

  May 14, 2020

Brothers and Sisters of the Kellogg – Pleasant View Parish,

In a proclamation, issued Wednesday, May 13, Governor Reynolds made changes to the orders in effect under the public health state of emergency declaration for the State of Iowa. The one change relevant to the church as a public accommodation is:

Restaurants may open their dining rooms to occupancy of no more than 50 percent of their permitted capacity, provided that no groups larger than 6 are seated and a 6 foot buffer is maintained between patrons or groups of patrons. Self-service by patrons at buffets, salad bars, and the like, is not allowed.

Provisions of prior orders, with application to our situation as a church, that remain in effect are:

1. Gatherings of more than 10 persons remain prohibited for social, community, and sporting event purposes.
2. Persons 65 and older or with underlying health conditions are urged to stay home as much as possible.
3. Most public accommodations, other than restaurants, which were closed under the prior order will remain so including theaters, bowling alleys, skating rinks, and museums.

This latest proclamation is issued with an expiration date of May 27th. If present trends continue, it is likely that a new order will be issued at or near that time further relaxing restrictions under the ongoing state of emergency. Therefore, I am targeting Sunday, May 31, for a reopening of our churches for public worship. Such a step can only be taken if we exhibit responsibility in doing so, by taking all feasible precautions for the safety of those who worship with us, and the surrounding community in which they live. The steps we will need to take, if we are to resume public worship with do diligence, are the following:

1. All seating in worship will provide a 6 foot buffer, front to back and from side to side, between individuals or groups from the same household. To insure that these buffers are maintained, all worshipers will be seated by an usher and appropriately spaced seating locations will be marked with blue painter’s tape. Worshipers will be seated in the next available spot, back to front, at the time of their arrival.
2. For their own safety and that of others, worshipers will need to wear masks. Everyone is welcome to bring their own mask, or they will be issued a disposable mask by the usher at the time of their arrival. Ushers will wear protective gloves while distributing masks.
3. Speakers and singers, who can’t wear a mask as they lead worship, will have Plexiglas shielding between themselves and the congregation while in the chancel. 
4. Offering plates will be left in the narthex area for the use of worshipers and will not be passed among the congregation.
5. Pump hand sanitizer will be available near the door which worshipers will be encouraged to use both on arrival and as they depart.
6. At the end of the service, worshipers will be dismissed by the ushers in an orderly manner as with funeral services and weddings. 
7. Worshipers should avoid congregating for conversation or other purposes while in the building, both before and after the service. All are asked to proceed directly outside after dismissal, where conversation can occur in the open air while maintaining the recommended buffer.
8. Regrettably, all physical contact between worshipers, such has hugging and hand shaking must be prohibited until the risk of communicating Covid 19 by these means, has passed.

Inevitably, this will seem uncomfortable and unnatural to all of us. Nevertheless, there should be no need to say how we would all feel if a fellow parishioner were to contract the Corona Virus or, worse still, die from it, knowing we had not taken every feasible precaution to protect them and everyone. The Lord said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). That love surely requires that we do all in our power, to protect those we love in Jesus’ name, both in and out of the church.

Please also bear in mind, that the target to reopen on May 31st may be a moving one. It remains contingent on the governor further relaxing restrictions after May 27, and our ability to put in place all precautions such as those indicated above, as prudence dictates.

In all this uncertainty there is one thing of which we can be positive. Whether on the 27th or some other, whether on the plain at Pleasant View or the hill of Kellogg or “around the glassy sea” the great day of our reunion as a Body of Christ is coming. “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” 

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

Pastor Tim

WE BELIEVE in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. 

Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. 

On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. 

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. 

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

Amen.