An Update on Our COVID Planning
Redeemer Church Family,
As Jeff shared in an announcement before a recent Sunday service, it's been 51 weeks since we last gathered as a church family to worship at our church home. Recently, the Governing Elders met to discuss developments regarding COVID-19 and how best to start planning our return to Avondale.
Shepherding our church family during this pandemic has required a unique emphasis on physical health and safety. While we believe our caution has been wise, we are also experiencing the cost of severe disruption and isolation on us all - both relationally and spiritually.
Given a choice, we know you would likely prefer to be back in Avondale for Sunday worship. The staff and pastors feel the same way. But our response to the pandemic still requires patience and wisdom from everyone.
We must refrain from idolizing our facility or idealizing the effects of being back inside it. However, we should see the benefit of getting back to our roots in Avondale and the good of returning to the regular rhythms of corporate worship together.
We know that several other churches have already resumed indoor services. As you know, our seating limitations have long been an issue at Redeemer. Due to the scale of our sanctuary and capacity constraints, we were already offering four Sunday services before the pandemic. To resume indoor services with full health protocols in place, it would require 10-12 services to accommodate all members and regular attendees. That is why we have been waiting for the guidelines to relax, within reason.
As many of you know, the Alabama Department of Public Health has developed a multi-phase plan for rolling out vaccines, and our elders are diligently watching the distribution of vaccines across our state. As the Governing Elders monitor the distribution phases, we will be planning and preparing to return to Avondale in tandem with distribution benchmarks, particularly the move to "Phase 2" distribution.
Crucial variables like safety protocols, crowd size, childcare, etc., are all being carefully considered. We know we don't have all of the answers right now, but we also recognize that we won't get those answers unless we do the work now to prepare for the future. As we formalize our plans, we will communicate them to our church family as soon as possible.
Coming out of this pandemic will be as unique and challenging as it was at the start one year ago. Still, the Redeemer elders are looking forward and trusting in the Lord's provision and guidance as we plan to return to our home in Avondale.
We ask that you join us in praying for the Lord's direction, and we ask for your continued patience as we plan and prepare for the coming months.
Blessings,
The Senior Pastor Team
Joel Brooks
Lead Pastor
Josh Hausen
Executive Pastor
Jeff Heine
Shepherding Pastor
