ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 20, 2020
Welcome to St. Matthews By-the-Sea. It is our hope that during our time of worship you will experience the presence of the risen Christ. If you are worshiping with us from the parking lot, please tune in to 100.5 FM on your radio!
BYKOTA Adult Sunday School Class continues to meet @ 9:30 a.m. in Clendaniel Hall (masks are required) with social distancing. We will finish Isaiah and start the book of Jeremiah. All are welcome!
The Prayer Group continues to meet in person at the church every Monday at 9:00am for an hour of praise and supplication. The Prayer Group invites all who believe in the power of prayer to join them and bring your mask!
The Crafty Ladies are now meeting every Tuesday in Clendaniel Hall at 9:30 am. Bring your crafts that you made or your ideas that you had during COVID. It’s also not too early to start collecting your used books, jewelry and white elephant items for the Christmas Bazaar on November 13 – 14, 2020.
Attention all SMBTS walkers! We will have another opportunity to fight hunger just by continuing to do our daily walks! Each walker will obtain sponsors to contribute to CROP Hunger Walk. See the attached Flyer Below for more information! (click on the link)
Praying for Our Nation - A group will be gathering at the church sometime during the week of September 28th to pray for our nation. This will be a weekly group that meets through the end of December and beyond. A day and time have not yet been determined. Stay tuned. All are welcome!
We are now accepting donations of nonperishable food items. You can bring them with you to church each Sunday. Your donations go to the Pyle Center and are distributed to those in lower Sussex County who are experiencing difficult times. Check those expiration dates!
Have a Great Week!
Choir Robe Campaign. Please download and print the form below and you will have the information needed.
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Updated: 9/5/2020
Re-Opening Our Church For Sunday Services
As you might expect, plans for Sunday services are fluid, depending on changes in governmental guidelines and the success of various options we are trying. The best way to keep up to date is to watch for our blast emails or call the church office for current information.
As of July 5th our services will be held inside limited by governmental guidelines and the necessity for sanitizing between services. Under the current guidance, we can accommodate between 35-42 people for each service in the sanctuary. Right now, we are back to our normal service times of 8:30 am and 10:45 am but, of course, that could change.
We will continue use of our FM transmitter for those who would like to remain in their cars for the service. You can listen in your car at FM100.5 or in your home if you live close to the church!
Both for outdoor and indoor service you will need to:
- Wear a mask;
- Bring your own Bible if you wish- we will not be using church Bibles or hymnals.
- Do NOT wear gloves. We will squirt your hands with hand sanitizer as you enter.
These precautions are mandatory for everyone’s safety.
Ushers will direct you where to sit – even families must social distance from each other to avoid impacting surrounding chairs/pews.
You may put your offerings in a marked container as you enter a service, or you can mail them to the church. As you might expect, it is still costing money to run the church and some of our costs have gone up due to precautions we are taking for your health.
There will be no nursery or Children’s Church until further notice. Children are welcome at our services (which will last about 45 minutes) as long as they can social distance or be held by their parent(s).
Should you attend a service and then become ill with something that may be the coronavirus, please notify the church office immediately so we can support you through prayer, and notify our members.
We will continue to post Sunday sermons on our website smbts.org and Facebook@StMatthewsByTheSea for those who are more comfortable remaining in solitude a bit longer. Both your physical and spiritual safety are important to your church family!
Many are working diligently to make our transition to a new normal possible. We ask for your patience, flexibility and kindness.
THRIFT SHOP NOW OPEN!
