Tricky Tray Help
Here’s a message from our Tricky Tray Coordinator, Christine Souza:
Dear friends,
We plan to move forward with this year's tricky tray event "Farewell 2020" with modifications. The drawing will be held on Facebook live on Friday, December 4th at 7:30 PM. Members of the congregation and the general public will have the opportunity to view the baskets and purchase tickets in a socially distanced manner from November 30th through December 4th. More information regarding this will be coming soon.
In lieu of our donation wish board, the tricky tray committee has created an Amazon wish list, which can be accessed through this link:
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/15HUQA93FCV63?ref_=wl_share
You may purchase any of the items on the list through Amazon and they will be delivered directly to the church. Should you wish to purchase any of the items independently, outside of Amazon, please contact Christine Souza at csouza0167@outlook.com so she can remove the item from the wish list. The tricky tray committee is also in need of the following donations:
Themed baskets created by your family
Gift cards to your favorite restaurants
Grocery store gift cards
New items you no longer need or want that we can use to create baskets
Cash donations to use toward items for our baskets
Gift cards to Target or Walmart
We are so thankful for your continued support of this event.
Moving Back Indoors
*Updated October 17th
Our church is on the verge of moving back indoors amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. You may have some questions or concerns about the timing of this transition, so I wanted to lay out exactly what our plan is and our procedures to do our best to keep our congregation and our community safe.
Our church council has voted unanimously to resume indoor worship. *We are moving back indoors October 18th. We will transition the outdoor 9:30am service indoors. There are a number of factors that went into this decision and a clear plan has been laid out. Among other changes, people will be socially distanced when seated and everyone will be asked to wear a mask throughout the service. Below is the plan approved by the Church Council:
The Council has approved that we maintain outdoor worship as long as we can. Being outdoors is categorically safer than worship indoors. But the team also recognizes that cold weather is prohibitive for outdoor worship. We recommend folks bring coats and blankets until we transition to indoor worship. We want to maintain outdoor worship to at least October 11th and, potentially, as far as the end of October, if we have morning temperatures above 60 degrees.
When the weather is too cold (or we come to the end of October, whichever comes first), we will move indoors and remain indoors for the foreseeable future. One advantage we have over other churches is our heating system, which is radiant, not forced air. That means a potential virus will not be spread by the intake and distribution of hot air. Here are the other steps approved as we move indoors:
· Have radiant heat on, but allow fresh air into the sanctuary (per CDC recommendations)
· Have no congregational singing. Only soloists will sing
· Invite everyone to wear a mask coming into the building and keeping it on while inside
· Do a contactless temperature check for everyone entering the building
· Invite everyone to use hand sanitizer as they enter the building
· Seat families with 6 feet of distance between them
· Keep only the family bathroom open for easy clean up and maintenance
· Strategically position the preacher and musicians to maintain an additional 12-20 feet of distance
· Reduce the number of musicians leading musically
· Remove all items from pews
· Take attendance using one volunteer, not attendance pads
· Shorten the length from that of an average service to reduce potential exposure
· Continue with no coffee hour after worship
· Maintain online worship for those uncomfortable with returning to indoor worship
Sunday School, led by Chris Cauda, has formed a plan for their students and teachers. Their plan was created by a team of Sunday School leaders and the input of the pastor. Their plan will be reviewed periodically with the Pastor.
You may be wondering about the current state of COVID-19 in our area. Much of the news includes state and national numbers, but rarely do you see information regarding Wyckoff or other local towns. The perception, especially when total case numbers are given, is that COVID is on the rise. Though this may be true in some areas, Wyckoff has seen a steady decrease since May of 2020. Since September 30th there have only been 8 new cases in Wyckoff. In May there were about 6 new cases every day, in July about .8, September had slightly less at .79 cases per day, while today we are down to about 1 new case every two days (.5). Though that’s more than we’d like to see, we believe it is safe enough to resume indoor worship as cases are on the decline in our area.
With this plan in place we are excited to reintroduce indoor worship at Grace United Methodist Church in Wyckoff, New Jersey. Certainly things will not be exactly as they were, but we believe this is a significant step for us as we continue our efforts to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with our community and with our world. We hope you’ll join us indoors for worship when you are ready to do so!
Worship During COVID-19
August 2nd Outdoor Worship at Grace – 9:30am
We are excited to offer an opportunity for worship at Grace United Methodist Church. After over four months of closing the building and conducting online worship services only, we are eager for August 2nd when we will have outdoor worship at the church. We recognize some people are not ready to gather to worship with others, either because of concerns for safety or because of the restrictions imposed at this time for gathered worship, but for those that are, below is our plan for how worship will change as we gather together during this pandemic.
Here is what you need to know:
Outdoor worship will begin at 9:30am August 2nd and continue until further notice
Worship will take place at the FRONT of Grace UMC at 555 Russell Avenue
Please bring and wear a mask. If you forget yours one will be provided
An usher will review the six essential practices with you before entering the worship area
Bring a chair and umbrella – there is limited seating and shade available
No Sunday School or Coffee Hour will be provided at these services
The service will be recorded and broadcast online at 11am for those who prefer to stay home
There are six essential practices that will help keep our congregation safe from the spread of disease.
Members of the Church Council reviewed the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference guidelines for reopening churches, applicable state guidelines and CDC (Center for Disease Control) guidelines. After synthesizing this information we created a proposal that was approved by the Church Council. You can see the whole document here. The section pertaining to outdoor worship is here:
We know many are eager to gather together again. We will do our best to accommodate everyone, but we remain committed to the bishop’s directive that no transmissions of COVID-19 occur through United Methodist congregations. If a single case is found among our worshiping congregation, we will need to return to offering online worship only. We appreciate your feedback and will continue to work toward a safe and appropriate worship experience for all.