Isaiah 55:1–5 —¹ “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. ² Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. ³ Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. ⁴ See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples. ⁵ Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations you do not know will come running to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.”

Romans 8:35–39 —³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Matthew 14:13–21 —¹³ When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵ As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” ¹⁶ Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” ¹⁷ “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. ¹⁸ “Bring them here to me,” he said. ¹⁹ And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ²⁰ They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ²¹ The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Return to Worship – COVID-19 Guidelines

for

St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Monticello

May 29, 2020

Dear Member and Friends of St. Peter’s,

As members of the body of Christ, I pray Jesus has continued to fill you with his peace and the certainty of salvation and eternal life. The Apostle Paul lifts us with his words to the Colossians:

¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. … ¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:12,15-17).

I rejoice to know you have continued to grow in your faith through Jesus’ word proclaimed online and in your daily devotions. However, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord'” (Psalm 122:1). During the COVID stay-at-home order, God’s people have longed to gather in the same space to spiritually feast on God’s Word and sacrament and join our voices in praise to God our Savior. While online worship has been a blessing for continued spiritual nourishment, it does not and cannot replace the social aspect of worship as a community of believers gathered in place and time.

We are moving toward that opportunity, but carefully with a plan in place and encouragement to all. The council has decided to resume public worship starting June 7th and 8th. We ask that you continue to look to one another’s needs and in love strive to encourage and build one another up. We also do not want you or anyone to feel pressure to come to worship until you feel comfortable. We will continue to offer online worship, although, since we will be recording the morning worship, the service may be put up later on Sunday afternoon.

Here is a summary of our plans, starting June 7^th for Sunday and Monday worship following:

• Church will be regularly cleaned and sanitized, especially all the high touch areas.
  
• Hand sanitizer is available.
  
• In the worship area, every third pew will be open for seating in the worship service.
  
• Members and visitors are asked to practice social distancing – keeping at least 6 feet apart. Social distancing does not apply to those living under the same roof and care-givers.
  
• All services will be printed fully in the bulletin and on the screen for the service. We ask members to take their bulletin home with them after the service. Bulletins will not be reused.
  
• Offering plates will be at the door to the worship area for you to place your gifts.
  
• We will have doors wedged open to achieve as little touching as possible.
  
• If you desire to wear a mask, please do so. However, for singing portions of the service, we are recommending people wear their masks.
  
• The congregation will be dismissed pew by pew allowing for people to keep a respectable distance from one another. You are encouraged to visit outside but be conscious of your distancing.
  
• We encourage no handshaking, but an encouraging smile and wave as you greet one another.
  

Communion (The Lord’s Supper will be offered on the first three Sundays & Mondays following in June! June 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22).

• The elements of the Lord’s Supper will be consecrated as usual by the pastor and will be offered by way of continuous flow communion; setting aside kneeling and being next to one another. This will also keep from having to use the railings to go up to the altar.
  
• You will be invited to come up the outside rows keeping social distance from those not of your family.
  
• As you approach the pastor, please hold out your hand to receive a wafer. He will give you the wafer with the words: “The body of Christ given for you.” Following that, you will move to a table and take the individual cup place there and hear: “The blood of Christ shed for you.” Please place your empty cup in the basket and return to your seat. The pastor will come to those that are not able to come up for communion in their seat. After the entire assembly has received the Lord’s Supper, the dismissal and blessing will be spoken to all. We also understand if some are not ready to commune.
  
• The pastor and those assisting him will have a mask and will wash and sanitize before the distribution.
  
• Private communion is still available for those that are not able to come yet or not comfortable receiving it in worship.
  
• Members and visitors are urged to use common sense and practice the same precautions as with the cold and flu, which you have heard from the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic:
  
  • Wash hands your hands regularly.
    
  • Stay home if you are not feeling well, have a temperature or are sick.
    
  • Cover your cough in your elbow or handkerchief.
    
  • If you start to feel ill during the service, please leave immediately.
    
  • If you have been exposed to someone with Covid-19, please stay home.
    
  • Exercise Christian love and consideration as best you can. May the peace of Jesus continue to fill you each day as you strive to live representing him.
    
• We want to encourage Christian freedom and love for one another to guide members – including those who are not ready to meet but wish to stay home. Continue to pray for each other and for our governing officials.
  
• Thank you to everyone that has helped in so many ways in church, outside church, with your time, your gifts and offerings. A special thank you to Noah, Naomi & Natalia Green for their work on the video services. It has been a great blessing to our church and worship. It is often in difficult times that the Lord grows us and helps the body of Christ shine.
  
• It is also a time that our weaknesses and fears show, but a time in which our Lord Jesus grows us, forgives us and guides us forward with our eyes focused on our Jesus ruling on his throne. He promises to be with us always and to use to us to do great things to his glory.
  

This document is for purposes only of outlining how our church plans to handle and maintain

social distancing practices for worship. Your pastor and church council will continue to monitor these protocols and make adjustments as appropriate. This has been put together using guidance from the CDC guidelines and MN state health guidelines. While we cannot safeguard against every germ and sickness in this sin-fallen world, we seek to conduct our lives and ministry in love for others – both soul and body.

In Christ,

Pastor Green and the St. Peter’s Church Council

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