Return to Indoor Worship

Beginning Sunday, March 28, Simpsonwood UMC is returning to indoor worship with two limited seating worship services each Sunday. Returning to indoor worship is not a flip of the switch to our new “normal”. This is the first step in a journey that we hope you will take with us. You can expect changes and adjustments as we learn what works and as the Covid-19 situation in our community continues to change.

Utilizing guidance from our Conference, the state, the CDC and our Health & Wellness committee, and with safety as a priority, we are excited to welcome you back.

There will be three ways to worship with Simpsonwood on Sunday morning:

Traditional Worship | 9:00am | Family Life Center, Gym
Contemporary Worship | 11:00 | Family Life Center, Gym
Livestream | 11:00am | Youtube

Reservations are required for our in-person worship services. Reservations will be available each Monday at 12:00pm for the upcoming Sunday until seating is full. Each service is limited to 90 reservations to ensure proper distancing inside the Family Life Center. Watch the short video below and we’ll walk you through the process step-by-step.

Your pastor and church staff are eager to welcome each of you back to worship; however, we realize many of you will not feel comfortable returning to indoor worship until you have received full Covid-19 vaccination or risk of exposure is further reduced. Do not feel rushed to return to indoor worship. Covid-19 is still active and although we are taking precautionary measures, there are risks to being in groups indoors. In light of that, Simpsonwood will continue to offer an online version of worship until the numbers reflect that is it safe for all of us to be together indoors for worship again. Beginning March 28, our 11:00am Contemporary Service will be live-streamed through YouTube.

Simpsonwood has invested in a new sound system, cameras, lights, backdrops, not to mention time and effort, to enhance the look of the stage in the Family Life Center for the live-stream. Our hope is to not only enrich our service for all, but to give those worshipping from home the feeling of being together with our in-person worshippers.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

Prior to joining us for either indoor worship service, please familiarize yourself with the Simpsonwood UMC 2021 Indoor Worship Safety Protocols. These protocols cover what is expected of our attendees, as well as the sanitations measure that will be in place.

Leadership Response to New CDC Mask Guidelines

Dear Simpsonwood UMC,

You may have noticed the new CDC guidance that came out just yesterday. In response, we are truly excited to announce some major changes in our gathered worship services. Beginning this Sunday, May 16, we invite those who are fully vaccinated to worship without face coverings in worship.

Please note: for now, we will wear a mask while in the common areas of the church, including walking into service and leaving regardless of vaccination status, but once you are in your seat, you may remove your mask if you choose to do so.

For those who are not yet fully vaccinated, we invite you to continue to be safe as you finish the vaccination process. We will continue to practice social distancing in worship through the spacing of chairs, the online registration system, etc., yet this change in worship is one that our Leadership Team has met to make a decision on this week. We are truly excited and know how this will enrich the worship experience of all at Simpsonwood.

The church has taken the significant step to make all parts of the campus indoors truly safer by installing new air purification systems. These work very effectively to mitigate viruses in the air indoors throughout our entire campus. We are excited about these extraordinary steps that have been taken to make the Simpsonwood campus a safe place going forward. The church and community will benefit in every part of the campus from worship to preschool … and everything in between.

Lastly, please note that our Leadership Team is working expediently to bring back small group gatherings on campus and will be pleased to announce those with specifics as we continue our work together. We look forward to continuing to return the mission and ministry that takes place on the campus to a new normal with God’s grace. Please watch closely for additional announcements as we continue in this work.

All God’s blessings in Jesus,

The Simpsonwood UMC Leadership Team

Bobby Smith, Ad. Council Chair
Angela Barber, Lay Leader
Bonnie Barclay, SPR Chair
Rawd McArthur, Finance Chair
Foster Lynn, Trustees Chair
Rev. John Purrington, Pastor