Initial New In-Person Service—Sunday, May 31, 2020 at 9:30am. (Please note the time change!)

Special Note From Your Pastor—These guidelines have been developed with your safety in mind.  They were compiled from guidelines that were established by the West Florida District of the Assemblies of God Presbytery Board for all District Council Affiliated Churches and from recommendations from the Westville Assembly of God Advisory Team.  These guidelines will be in effect until the restrictions placed on our society stemming from the COVID19 pandemic are lifted.  Please understand these guidelines do not dictate our worship of God.  They are established to help prevent the spread of this contagious virus.  They only involve physical matters and have absolutely no bearing on whether or not we are in the presence of God in worship.  Our worship stems from our relationship with the Father through faith in Jesus.  If our physical state of affairs dictates our worship, then we need to examine our relationship with God and re-focus on Jesus, not on our physical situations. 

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If you do not feel it is in your best interest as far as your health is concerned, please do not jeapordize yourself by going out in public any more than is necessary.  This includes attending worship services as we return to in-person services here at Westville Assembly of God.  We look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday, May 31 at 9:30am.  However, if you decide to remain at home for your health’s sake because you are at high risk or for our health’s sake because you are sick, no one is going to think less of you.  We will pray for you and with you until you do return to worship with us.

When arriving, please park in such a fashion as to allow a minimum of six feet between vehicles

when the doors are opened.  As you exit your vehicle, please maintain social distancing between individuals or family groups.

Enter the building through the front entrance, which will be propped open to avoid touching door handles as much as possible.  A member of the WAG Advisory Team will greet you at the foyer with hand sanitizer until our touchless sanitizer dispensers arrive.  If you prefer, wash your hands using soap from the touchless soap dispensers in the bathrooms.

If you need to use the restrooms in the foyer, please do that before the service starts or after the service concludes if possible.  Remember that the fixtures will have to be sanitized after each use.  If a small child needs to use the restroom during the service, he/she should be accompanied by an adult from that family.

Upon entering the building, please resist the urge to hug or shake hands.  Use fist bumps, waves or big smiles instead, along with a heartfelt, “So glad to see you!”

Personal masks are optional.  Some may wear them; some may not.  No one should judge anyone either way.

You will see temporary signage reminding you of safety guidelines we are expected to follow right now.  We look forward to the time when they will no longer be necessary, but while they are up, please follow their advice.

A WAG Advisory Team Member will assist you in being seated.  You will notice the chairs have been spaced apart and grouped to allow for singles, couples and family groups.  Please sit toward the front in the spaced chairs in the second row first before filling in seating in the other rows.  We’ll fill in the third row and then the fourth row as needed.  If a family group needs extra chairs, please use a chair in the same row, if at all possible.  Please be advised that, based on the national, state and local guidelines for social distancing, we have a maximum occupancy of twenty-eight people in the floor seating of the sanctuary.  We will need to make the best use possible of our seating.  Although we will attempt to seat you near the area where you used to sit in the past, it is possible that you may not be seated in the same general area you used before the pandemic started.  Please understand we are not trying to upset your day in God’s presence together.  A new perspective from a new seat may actually be to your benefit.

We will not have Sunday School, Children’s Church or Nursery yet.  Children will be with you in the service.  We will make every effort to include children in all aspects of our service, from the opening prayer and singing to the sermon.  We will also have in-seat handouts that are connected to the message, such as coloring pages or “fill in the blanks”  sheets, for younger children who need them.  With children in the service, there may be some extra noise or movement.  Keep in mind that separate children’s services have not been around that long.  Disciples of Christ all the way to the 1970’s met just like we will be meeting.  If they could do “whole family worship,” we can, too.

The general flow of the service will be similar to what we have done in the past.  We will continue to have live and/or recorded services.  There will be cameras and other equipment in the sanctuary to fulfill that new aspect of the service.  Since we are new at that, please be patient with where the equipment is located.  The more we participate in live services, the less we will notice the furniture and equipment.

During our closing time of prayer each service, if you need personal prayer, we will stretch our hands toward you, just like we have asked people to do in the past.  For the time being, we will not be anointing with oil.  It’s the prayer of faith that petitions God for healing, not the application of the oil.

When we observe communion, the elements will be picked up from a single serving station and will be pre-packaged sets that contain the bread and juice.

At the conclusion of the service, please exit the building through the front exit in the reverse order of how you were seated.  (We do things like this all the time at funerals and weddings.)  Please maintain social distancing as you leave, and do not mingle closely in the aisles, foyer or porch.  We were raised in a society that included hugging and handshakes.  For your safety, please do not do that right now.  Just as soon as we are able to safely hug each other in public, we will.

The tithes and offerings will be received as you enter or exit the sanctuary by placing them in the box located by the sound booth.  Offering envelopes are located on the top shelf above the offering box.  If you prefer to give online, you can do that at our website:  WestvilleAG.org.  Just click on the DONATE button and fill in the appropriate information.

Immediately following the service, members of the WAG Advisory Team will sanitize the doors, bathrooms, chairs, outside handrails, etc. to prepare for the next time we get together.  Please respect their time by not lingering after the service.

Once again, we look forward to worshipping with you as a congregation on Sunday, May 31, 2020 beginning at 9:30am.  Come expecting God to move as we share what He has been doing in, for and through us as disciples of Jesus Christ.