The people of Abingdon United Methodist Church are pleased to announce that we will be moving back into our sanctuary! Beginning July 12 we will meet for in-person worship service. July 12-26 we will meet 9:00am at the church and continue on-line worship at 10:20am each week. Feedback is welcomed and constant evaluation will be underway during that time as we determine on-going schedules, styles and number of services for August and beyond. During phase 4, in-person services must abide by health department guidelines due to our insurance and must follow the United Methodist guidelines from the conference for safely returning to worship.
In order to promote the safest possible environment, no-contact temperatures will be taken at the door, masks must be worn at all times, and we ask that worshipers abide physically distance at least 6 feet from one another, use regular hand-washing / hand-sanitizing, and refrain from singing. The leadership of the church knows the frustration of these changes. Many spoke of such feelings during the meetings, but this is the best way we have to see one another and worship together during this time... but also know that we will not stop here! We will constantly monitor the Health Department and United Methodist guidelines (which have already had changes over the past month) so that we can find new ways to worship as time goes by!
Let us pray for our church as we re-start in-person worship: that it would be safe, that we would find joy in it, and that lives would be impacted as our community grows in Christ! We can choose to look at this as an opportunity rather than a limitation and when we do, we may just find joy in being physically closer to beloved friends, hearing beautiful music, and being inspired by the Holy Spirit through Scripture and prayer!!!