Covid Precautions

Are masks required?
Yes. (If you are like me when I look at website covid precaution and are wondering, “ok but is this still the case, or has this website not been updated in a year?” this is still the case. This was last updated March 2024)

We as Christians are always called to consider and care for the most vulnerable in our midst. Children under the age of 2 are not able to mask, and many adults are high risk, so for their protection, safety, and comfort we will ask everyone to wear masks when at Evergreen. This includes those who are speaking and preaching. We will have masks for any who need them, both adult and children’s sizes. We will be graceful to young children who might have a hard time wearing a mask.

Do you have HEPA Filters?
We have 4 HEPA Filters in our worship space. By our calculations they should be turning over the air in our space every 10-15 minutes.

Do you have any other precautions?
Yes, we have 2 set of doors in our sanctuary that open to the outside. We have fitted these with screens and we open them during the service to increase fresh air. For those who follow such things, our CO2 levels highs during worship before we opened the doors averaged 675, and since we have opened the doors we’ve averaged 550. On really hot or really cold morning we have them cracked rather than wide open.

Will we be distanced?
Yes. Our space will be set up with the tables and chairs, both because the tables help keep distance and also to anticipate when we will be able to start our community dinners.

We also know that some people are comfortable being closer. We are not going to require spacing when people talk or gather, or even sit together for worship if all parties are comfortable being closer or hugging. We ask that you assume everyone would prefer distance unless you ask them and know they are comfortable being closer.

Are we going to have communion?
Yes. There will be a few changes from what we did pre-covid. We will be utilizing small cups for the juice so that people can take them back to their seats and consume the elements there. We will also have two stations. One will be at the front with me servicing like we used to do just with the small cups instead of the common cup. The second will be at a side table for those that don’t feel comfortable with the closeness of receiving up front. At both stations people, after receiving the elements, will return to their seats and only take their masks off in order to consume them and then put them back on.

Will the nursery be available?
As we start up we will not have a staffed nursery. We will continue to assess the safety and need for that.

What will we have for children?
We will have the nursery space for any family that might for any reason need to move to a separate space. Out service is streamed into there.

Before Covid we had one larger space for children in our worship to wiggle, our prayground. Moving forward we plan to have 2 separate areas set up for families to keep distance. We don’t generally have more than 2 families with young kids any given Sunday, but if we do we will also solve that problem at that time.

We will also have coloring sheets, smaller toy packets, and will invite families to bring their own toys for their kids that they could play with at one of the tables if they want.

Will we have food and coffee?
No, we will not and will likely continue to not for as long as we are wearing masks.

Will we still have the coloring sheets for all ages?
Yes. But instead of having a communal bin of markers/colored pencils on each table we will have the coloring sheets and sets of markers/colored pencils on a side table for people to get if they want.

Will there be extra cleaning and disinfecting?
No, we are cleaning our facilities weekly as we always have. The research indicates that covid is spread through the air rather than through touch, so our focus is on the things like masks and distancing that limit how it is spread. Also research shows that regular soap and water with regular cleaning does kill the virus and so we do not believe that any extra cleaning above what we have always done to keep our church safe is necessary.

Can we gather and fellowship after worship?
Yes, anyone who wants to do so can stay and talk together. In this fellowship time we just ask that you assume everyone would prefer distance unless you ask them and know they are comfortable being closer.