So We Attended Church Today, First Time in Three Months....

[smac97]

Our family was fortunate in being able to attend Sacrament Meeting today.  Here are the particulars of how our ward/stake are handling this:

1. The wards in our stake are authorized to conduct services every other week, and each ward will divvy up their ward into two Sacrament Meetings.  For example, our ward had half of us meet at 9:00, and the other half meet at 10:30.  Next week we will not have meetings, so as to the allow the other ward in our building to use the facilities.

2. The building was heavily sanitized before and after the meeting.

3. Most of the building was cordoned off.  Only one door was open for ingress/egress.

4. Everyone was strongly encouraged to wear a mask, and required to observe "social distancing" guidelines.

5. Members older than 60 were encouraged to not attend, as they are most at risk.

6. Upon entering the building, we were asked to sanitize our hands with alcohol, then the ushers (one of the Young Women) guided us to a particular pew.

7. Every other pew was taped off, so each family was quite far apart.

8. The Elders' Quorum and counselors in the Bishopric worked with the Young Men to sanitize and clean the Sacrament trays prior to the service.

9. The service was 45 minutes long.  No singing, just listending to a recorded hymn for the opening.  Some announcements.  Then Sacrament hymn (again, just listening), then Sacrament, then one talk, then listening to a closing hymn, then closing prayer.  The ushers dismissed one family at a time.

Overall, it was a good experience.  I look forward to a return to status quo ante, but meanwhile...

Thanks,

-Smac

[longview]

6 minutes ago, smac97 said:

8. The Elders' Quorum and counselors in the Bishopric worked with the Young Men to sanitize and clean the Sacrament trays prior to the service.

Were tongs used or the pieces of bread isolated into separate mini cups?

[smac97]

5 minutes ago, longview said:

Were tongs used or the pieces of bread isolated into separate mini cups?

Separated into Sacrament cups.  And the cups were themselves separated from each other on the tray.  And those administering the Sacrament each carried two trays, one that carried the cups with the bread, and the other for the individual to deposit the cup into after handling it.

[Calm]

Out of curiosity, how many wore masks?

Edited June 15, 2020 by Calm

[Bernard Gui]

1 hour ago, smac97 said:

2. The building was heavily sanitized before and after the meeting.

Who did the sanitizing and how was it done?

[Scott Lloyd]

1 hour ago, smac97 said:

Our family was fortunate in being able to attend Sacrament Meeting today.  Here are the particulars of how our ward/stake are handling this:

1. The wards in our stake are authorized to conduct services every other week, and each ward will divvy up their ward into two Sacrament Meetings.  For example, our ward had half of us meet at 9:00, and the other half meet at 10:30.  Next week we will not have meetings, so as to the allow the other ward in our building to use the facilities.

2. The building was heavily sanitized before and after the meeting.

3. Most of the building was cordoned off.  Only one door was open for ingress/egress.

4. Everyone was strongly encouraged to wear a mask, and required to observe "social distancing" guidelines.

5. Members older than 60 were encouraged to not attend, as they are most at risk.

6. Upon entering the building, we were asked to sanitize our hands with alcohol, then the ushers (one of the Young Women) guided us to a particular pew.

7. Every other pew was taped off, so each family was quite far apart.

8. The Elders' Quorum and counselors in the Bishopric worked with the Young Men to sanitize and clean the Sacrament trays prior to the service.

9. The service was 45 minutes long.  No singing, just listending to a recorded hymn for the opening.  Some announcements.  Then Sacrament hymn (again, just listening), then Sacrament, then one talk, then listening to a closing hymn, then closing prayer.  The ushers dismissed one family at a time.

Overall, it was a good experience.  I look forward to a return to status quo ante, but meanwhile...

Thanks,

-Smac

Who did the heavy sanitizing of the building before and after the meeting? And what specifically did it entail? 
 

Edit: Pardon. Didn’t see Bernard’s post just before this one.  

Edited June 14, 2020 by Scott Lloyd

[Scott Lloyd]

1 hour ago, Calm said:

How many wore masks out of curiosity?

In our ward, I don’t think anybody who wears a mask does it out of curiosity.  

[Robert F. Smith]

Sounds quite odd to me.  Almost like something out of the Twilight Zone.

[Scott Lloyd]

9 minutes ago, Robert F. Smith said:

Sounds quite odd to me.  Almost like something out of the Twilight Zone.

And it seems like a lot of work. I’m tempted to say if it’s this much trouble, just wait a while longer for the thing to blow over. 
 

But then, if they are serious about the soft ban on the over-60 group, I might not be going back anyway. 

[strappinglad]

1 hour ago, Scott Lloyd said:

I’m tempted to say if it’s this much trouble, just wait a while longer for the thing to blow over. 
 

I agree . As for the over 60 thing, there will be few if any High Priests (Formerly known as ) in Elders Quorum. 

[ksfisher]

2 hours ago, Scott Lloyd said:

And it seems like a lot of work. I’m tempted to say if it’s this much trouble, just wait a while longer for the thing to blow over. 
 

But then, if they are serious about the soft ban on the over-60 group, I might not be going back anyway. 

In our ward council morning this our bishop made it clear that when we did return (no set date yet) the meeting would be optional and priesthood holders would be able to continue blessing the sacrament in their home or for those they minister to.

[ksfisher]

3 hours ago, Scott Lloyd said:

In our ward, I don’t think anybody who wears a mask does it out of curiosity.  

🤣

[bluebell]

3 hours ago, Bernard Gui said:

Who did the sanitizing and how was it done?

In our ward the sanitizing was divided between the different organizations.  Each had a different area to take care of.

[Peacefully]

Our ward is starting back next week. Only 50 or less can attend, so members will alternate weeks. My husband and I had a zoom meeting with the Bishop today to let him know we do not feel comfortable returning any time soon. He gave us  permission to continue having sacrament at home. We talked for awhile about how everyone needs to make the decision that is best for them and we should respect that. I felt a sense of peace after the meeting. 

[Kenngo1969]

I have not, heretofore, heard hide nor hair from any of my local authorities regarding plans for resuming meetings.  I assume that once they do resume, they will be similar to what has been described here.  But ...   Search me!   Technically, I'm in a high-risk group.  Not quite there age-wise, but I do have asthma.  I hate to say this, but I'm a bit of a fatalist.  If I get COVID-19, I get COVID-19; if I get sick, I get sick; and if I die, I die.  If the third of those things happens (and it's gonna happen to all of us sooner or later, whether from COVID-19, from getting run over by a bus, or from something else) I'll go to a better place (even the worst of the possible rewards there is better than life at its best here), and I'll see you all on the other side.

As J. Golden Kimball is reported to have said once, "I may not walk the straight and narrow, but I sure as hell try to cross it as often as I can!" I'll settle for a tidy little cottage on the outskirts of the Celestial city.

[Scott Lloyd]

1 hour ago, Kenngo1969 said:

I have not, heretofore, heard hide nor hair from any of my local authorities regarding plans for resuming meetings.  I assume that once they do resume, they will be similar to what has been described here.  But ...   Search me!   Technically, I'm in a high-risk group.  Not quite there age-wise, but I do have asthma.  I hate to say this, but I'm a bit of a fatalist.  If I get COVID-19, I get COVID-19; if I get sick, I get sick; and if I die, I die.  If the third of those things happens (and it's gonna happen to all of us sooner or later, whether from COVID-19, from getting run over by a bus, or from something else) I'll go to a better place (even the worst of the possible rewards there is better than life at its best here), and I'll see you all on the other side.

As J. Golden Kimball is reported to have said once, "I may not walk the straight and narrow, but I sure as hell try to cross it as often as I can!" I'll settle for a tidy little cottage on the outskirts of the Celestial city.

Didn’t your bishop give you direction on home administration of the sacrament? 
 

At this late date, I’d be giving him a nudge about communicating with you about resumption of meetings. 
 

Our stake is the latest I’ve heard of for resumption of meetings, and we’re supposed to start again two weeks from today. 

[Kenngo1969]

1 hour ago, Scott Lloyd said:

Didn’t your bishop give you direction on home administration of the sacrament? ...

Yeah, but there's just me, so ...

[Scott Lloyd]

1 hour ago, Kenngo1969 said:

Yeah, but there's just me, so ...

Do you do it for yourself?

 

[Hamba Tuhan]

Thanks for sharing. We had stake council yesterday. Word from our area president is that we are not resuming services in chapels anytime soon. I'm still a bit surprised that those of you who live in areas with significant community transmission are, but I sense that members there may be clamouring for it?

[Scott Lloyd]

10 minutes ago, Hamba Tuhan said:

Thanks for sharing. We had stake council yesterday. Word from our area president is that we are not resuming services in chapels anytime soon. I'm still a bit surprised that those of you who live in areas with significant community transmission are, but I sense that members there may be clamouring for it?

I’ve not seen a lot of clamoring, but I don’t get around much these days. 

[Hamba Tuhan]

2 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said:

I’ve not seen a lot of clamoring, but I don’t get around much these days. 

Our local media have been filled with reports out of America of people demanding access to in-person worship services. Maybe the American Saints are outliers? Though my sister in America reports that many in her ward have expressed that they find the Church's guidelines silly and overly cautious.

Similarly, our city's Catholic diocese is sponsoring a petition calling for a lifting of all restrictions on in-person worship. Our local Saints seem to understand that our church services were suspended by prophets and will resume under their direction. 

[Calm]

8 minutes ago, Hamba Tuhan said:

Our local media have been filled with reports out of America of people demanding access to in-person worship services. Maybe the American Saints are outliers? Though my sister in America reports that many in her ward have expressed that they find the Church's guidelines silly and overly cautious.

Similarly, our city's Catholic diocese is sponsoring a petition calling for a lifting of all restrictions on in-person worship. Our local Saints seem to understand that our church services were suspended by prophets and will resume under their direction. 

I am not seeing a lot of masks these days out in public in Utah County.  Though my town (over 10,000) has held pretty steady since the beginning (I believe we got 9 confirmed cases relatively soon and only added 7 in the last two weeks), the two towns on either side while  they have only 3 times the population, one is around 120 and the other almost 150, having gone up 50 in the last two weeks, including 5 a day Thursday and Friday.  I don't get the complacency myself unless people think the low rates during the past couple of months means it is easy to control and that if it gets worse, then they just stay home more for awhile.

[Scott Lloyd]

1 hour ago, Hamba Tuhan said:

Our local media have been filled with reports out of America of people demanding access to in-person worship services. Maybe the American Saints are outliers? Though my sister in America reports that many in her ward have expressed that they find the Church's guidelines silly and overly cautious.

Similarly, our city's Catholic diocese is sponsoring a petition calling for a lifting of all restrictions on in-person worship. Our local Saints seem to understand that our church services were suspended by prophets and will resume under their direction. 

Our church has circumstances that others don’t enjoy. With priesthood holders in the home being authorized to administer the sacrament and with at-home gospel study being so convenient and elegant, and with on-line tithe paying being so easy, there’s not a lot to be clamoring for, actually. 
 

But I can see where there would be a problem with other faith groups in cities and states where governments have been heavy-handed in shutting down houses of worship even as they open up establishments like bars and abortion clinics (and discard all public health restrictions to accommodate protesters and rioting mobs). Under those circumstances, if I depended on going to my priest or rabbi to have the worship conducted and the local government were being draconian about allowing it, I think I’d be upset too. 

[amo]

16 hours ago, smac97 said:

Our family was fortunate in being able to attend Sacrament Meeting today...

I think that fortunate is being able to stay safe at home and being able to do HOME CHURCH with your family.

Kind of feel sorry for those that can't be fortunate enough and have to go through what you went through...

[Boanerges]

I'm also curious about rate of mask wearing and rate of attendance for those who were encouraged not to attend. I think we're at least a few weeks from phase 1 where I live, but about half my ward is over 60. Frankly that's one of my concerns. As I have thought about it I'm sure there are some in that group in my ward who will come to church come hell or high water so I expect they'll show. I also expect some won't really do the social distancing thing and will still want to shake hands, etc. If that's the case, I'm not sure I want to jump right back in, for my safety and for theirs.