Making Reservations for In-person Worship
It is exciting that we are looking at the possibility of returning to in-person worship at Church of the Epiphany! We are all excited about the possibility of seeing sisters and brothers in Christ that we have not seen at church since March.
As we prepare for a return to in-person worship, we are also adopting a new practice: registering for a worship service in advance. The reason we are doing this is to help us maintain limits on attendance in accordance with public health recommendations and so we know who is in attendance on a given date and time.
To make a reservation for worship, Church of the Epiphany-Tempe will be publishing links to our Eventbrite page. On that page, you will be able to choose between the early service, the 10:30am service, and the Twilight service (5:30pm). You may attend worship every week, although you may need to choose a time that is not your preferred time. We do ask that you make a reservation for each week that you are planning to attend in-person worship.
The events will be published one week before in-person worship begins. If you are scheduled to serve as a greeter, server/acolyte, reader, audio-visual minister, musician, deacon, or priest, you will not need to register via Eventbrite.
As part of caring for each other, we also need to be ready and willing to inform the parish if a member of our household tests positive for COVID-19. In the event that someone does test positive for COVID-19, the people that attended that worship service will be notified whilst protecting the identity of the person that has reported a positive COVID-19 test.
The people that were in attendance, including the clergy, will be required to self-isolate for a period of 14 days. Church of the Epiphany-Tempe also suggests that all in attendance on that date seek out the advice of a medical professional on whether or not to be tested.
For the period of 14 days, it may be necessary for us to return to an online-only worship experience. Please remember that, while it is an inconvenience, it also represents a pastoral event in the lives of people we love and care about. Our response as a parish is to pray for all involved.