River City Church is planning to offer in-person services on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 10 at 9 & 11AM. Online offerings of the services can still be found in Church Online or Facebook. Additionally, services will still be accessible on TV on Sunday mornings at 11AM on Fox WPBI.

While we’re opening up the church, we will be following Governor Holcomb’s recommendations for houses of worship in his plan found here. In it, you’ll find that the following things will impact how we would normally experience church.

• People 65 and older are encouraged to take in the service remotely. To better understand why, see this link.
• We will ensure 6 feet between people who live in different households by seating people every other row with at least three seats in the same row between people from different households. Additionally, we will seat people and dismiss row-by-row.
• We will clean high-contact areas between our services.
• We recommend putting on a face-covering before coming into the building.
• We recommend all people entering the building sanitize their hands.
• We are asking that all people who are symptomatic or who have tested positive for COVID-19 stay home and take in the services remotely.
• We will not be handing out bulletins or passing offering receptacles.
• Our café will remain closed at this time and no other food or drink will be available in the building on Sundays. Drinking fountains will be closed.
• At this time, we will not be celebrating communion in person together or baptizing people on a regular basis.
• There will be no early childhood or River City Kids Ministry, but children are welcome and there will be a children’s moment in the service. Children will need to sit with their parents during the service.
• There will not be a greeting moment in the service for the time being.
• There will be no lobby or outside fellowship time so that we don’t run the risk of transmitting unwittingly.

We will be worshipping together and hearing the word of God! The Holy Spirit will be present to work in our lives, as he will be for all those worshipping with us remotely.

As the River City Church board and I processed this decision, health and safety, as well as adherence to health and governmental authorities, were high in our minds. We do not take the decision lightly and plan to carefully follow the governor’s guidance and recommendations as we move ahead.

Our West Lafayette campus will worship with us during the summer and will relaunch its presence in West Lafayette later this year. We look forward to this time of being together in one place.

We look forward to an eventual return to “normal” and will be following our state’s guidance.

To learn more about the plans of the State of Indiana, please see this link: https://backontrack.in.gov/.