We are excited about regathering this Sunday, October 4th, for onsite worship at 9 am and 11 am. For those of you who are not ready to return in person, that’s totally fine. Please continue to join us online on Sundays at 9 am, 11 am, and 1 pm, or on-demand during the week.
For those of you who want to physically regather, we will continue to follow necessary safety measures to ensure we can remain open and keep everyone as healthy as possible:
- We are asking everyone to wear masks while on campus – we’ll have extra masks for everyone who needs one. Children under five years and anyone with a medical condition who are considered exempt do not have to wear masks.
- We are doing enhanced and frequent cleaning and sanitization. Rooms, tables, surfaces, chairs in the courts, bathrooms, and playgrounds will be sprayed down and disinfected before/after each service.
- Hand sanitizer will be at entrances and exits.
- We are offering a touchless experience. Doors will be propped open. Download the Pantano App before attending so you can respond and give digitally.
- We are providing communion in pre-packaged servings for you to pick up as you enter into services.
- We have visual cues and signs to direct attendees to physical distance. Both courts and the auditorium will be open, offering lots of space to spread out.
- We will be closing every other row in our auditorium and courts.
- We ask that you refrain from hugs and handshakes and keep physically distanced when possible.
- If you or someone you have been in close contact with are not feeling well, please remain home and join us online!
Our Kid’s ministry will also begin on Sunday, October 4th at 9 am and 11 am. Check-in will be touchless! When you arrive, we’ll have folks with iPads to check you in at the Kids ministry check-in tent. Room occupancy will be limited to protect our children and staff. Should we fill up a room, we’ll ask your child to attend worship with you. We’ll be diligent in cleaning the rooms and toys and follow standard health procedures.
Here’s the children’s written instructions link, and here’s the children’s video instructions link.
Our main Student worship time has moved to Wednesday nights at 6:30 pm. Starting Wednesday, October 7th, our high school and middle school students will meet in the Student Union for worship, teaching, and small groups. On Sunday, starting October 4th, we encourage our students to either worship as a family or volunteer. We’ll also provide a student Bible study at 9 am and 11 am in the Student Union. Here’s the student ministry welcome and instruction link.
Welcome back!
Glen Elliott
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In an effort to continue to work together to stay healthy, and with much thought and prayer, we’ve made a few decisions. Before we talk about those decisions, we want to remind you of this: We are still the church! We can still be Jesus to our families. We can still be Jesus to our friends and neighbors. We can continue to find ways to love people to Jesus and make a difference, by reaching out to others. Don’t let fear take a grip on you, but rather, let fear be a reminder to draw nearer to God. Our God is still the same God He was before this pandemic appeared.
The decisions that we’ve made have been formed through love, not fear. They are painful and not what we wanted to do, but with the current circumstances, we believe the following plan is best at this time:
- Pausing Physical Sunday Services: For this season, with the rising COVID-19 cases, the facemask requirements, and a few close calls from people who attended our services unknowingly positive for COVID-19, we believe pausing our in-person services is the wisest thing to do now. This change will allow us to explore how we can engage with our church and community at a higher level.
- Kid’s and Students Services Also Paused: Online content will continue at pantano.church/kids and pantano.church/students.
- Closing Our East Campus: During the week, we’ll be closing the campus with a couple of exceptions; Care Groups and memorial services will continue.
- Offices Are Closed: We are still available through our social media accounts or by calling the office at 520.298.5395.
- Kids Crazy Days Camp Canceled: Sadly, we had to make the decision to cancel our Kids Camp.
We are committed to continuing to provide a high-quality digital experience with our online campus. Sunday service times are 9 am, 11 am and 1 pm. Plan in advance to have bread and juice to partake in communion at home. We are still providing online options for students and children – go to our online campus page to access those – www.pantano.church/online.
Staying Connected
One way is to download our app. You’ll be able to access our adult, student, and kid’s online content, and several other tools [download here]. Another way is to join a Group. More and more Groups are doing this virtually and finding it to be an amazing experience. You can also Find A Group online!
As we navigate through our current circumstances, we will continue to reevaluate our resources and staff to align how we can engage with our church and city. Remember, we are NOT closed. The church is not a building; the church is a movement of people who live to help others meet, know, and follow Jesus.
Would you continue to pray for our church to be unified as we manage the tension of all the needs, wants, and desires of those impacted by these decisions? Please also pray that we would use this time as an opportunity to reach our neighbors, co-workers, city, and world in new and unique ways. We thank you, our Pantano Family, for your continued support.
Glen ElliottSubscribe: https://pantano.church/blogsubscription
