CURRENT STANDING: PHASE 4
In-person worship on Sunday mornings has resumed
with online streaming still made available.
with online streaming still made available.
CtK COVID Response Team Update, May 5, 2021
We have decided to implement Phase Four as of June 1, 2021. The most noteworthy feature of CtK’s shift to Phase Four is the return to in-person Sunday worship in the CtK Sanctuary. Our first in-person worship in the sanctuary will be on Sunday, June 6, 2021 at 9:30 am.
While we are grateful to God that we continue to move in the right direction, we also want to remind the entire Christ the King community that we need to remain vigilant in our on-going practices of wearing masks, washing hands, avoiding large public gatherings, and maintaining physical distance, even as many among us are now fully vaccinated. Viruses like COVID-19 have a way of transforming themselves, leaving newer groups of people more susceptible to infection than in the earlier days of the pandemic. Even as we celebrate the return of certain aspects of our shared faith life, we are called to care for all members of our community, and especially the most vulnerable among us.
The CtK COVID Response Team remains open to your input and feedback, and any one of us would love to listen to your concerns or answer your questions to the best of our ability. This has been a long and difficult year, and we are grateful to be moving more decisively towards re-gathering for worship, faith formation, and community building. Please keep the congregation of Christ the King, as well as our surrounding community in your prayers as we live into these long-awaited changes.
The CtK COVID Response Team:
Brett Kosec, Diane Shallue, Dale Erickson, Bob Benke (Council)
Judy Benke, Elaine Foell, Julie Philbrook (Faith Community Nurses)
Ana Becerra, Nate Crary, KC Gubrud, Pr. Peter Hanson, Pr. John Schwehn (Staff)
- The CtK office will begin to be open on a limited schedule, with prearranged appointments still preferred. Masks and physical distancing will continue to be required for all who enter the building.
- Funerals, baptisms, and weddings in the sanctuary may now include up to 150 people, provided they continue to be physically distanced, masked, and refrain from group singing and pre- or post-service gatherings.
- Committees, teams, and other CtK groups will continue holding in-person meetings in the CtK building, with additional times and meeting places available (with masks required, and capacity capped to provide for distancing) through arrangement by office staff.
- Outside groups may continue to request indoor meeting space, similarly limited in capacity, duration, and frequency (with priority for CtK groups).
While we are grateful to God that we continue to move in the right direction, we also want to remind the entire Christ the King community that we need to remain vigilant in our on-going practices of wearing masks, washing hands, avoiding large public gatherings, and maintaining physical distance, even as many among us are now fully vaccinated. Viruses like COVID-19 have a way of transforming themselves, leaving newer groups of people more susceptible to infection than in the earlier days of the pandemic. Even as we celebrate the return of certain aspects of our shared faith life, we are called to care for all members of our community, and especially the most vulnerable among us.
The CtK COVID Response Team remains open to your input and feedback, and any one of us would love to listen to your concerns or answer your questions to the best of our ability. This has been a long and difficult year, and we are grateful to be moving more decisively towards re-gathering for worship, faith formation, and community building. Please keep the congregation of Christ the King, as well as our surrounding community in your prayers as we live into these long-awaited changes.
The CtK COVID Response Team:
Brett Kosec, Diane Shallue, Dale Erickson, Bob Benke (Council)
Judy Benke, Elaine Foell, Julie Philbrook (Faith Community Nurses)
Ana Becerra, Nate Crary, KC Gubrud, Pr. Peter Hanson, Pr. John Schwehn (Staff)
CtK COVID Response Team Update, March 22, 2021
Meeting this past week, the CtK COVID Response Team has decided to move from Phase Two to Phase Three of CtK’s Phased Reopening Plan (for the current version of the Plan, click here).
While this change does not yet reinstate in-person Sunday worship in the CtK sanctuary (that is in Phase Four), there are notable adjustments in this current shift, which will be implemented as of April 5 , 2021.
We thank God for the many ways that members of our congregation and community have done their part to move us this far in the right direction. At the same time, this public health crisis continues, and perhaps more than ever we need to not let up on our safe and healthy practices of wearing masks, washing hands, avoiding public gatherings, maintaining physical distance, and staying home as much as possible. Many have spoken of a “light at the end of the tunnel” as well as the anticipation of a return to some of the activities we have missed this past year. It would be unfortunate if we needed to dial back to a previous phase due to too quickly relaxing our efforts at containing this virus.
The CtK COVID Response Team remains open to your input and feedback. Any one of us would love to listen to your concerns or answer your questions to the best of our ability. As so many have said, we are in this together, and we will make it through this difficult time united as one body in Christ. Thanks for your continued prayers for the CtK COVID Response Team and for all the ongoing ministries of Christ the King.
The CtK COVID Response Team:
Brett Kosec, Diane Shallue, Dale Erickson, Bob Benke (Council)
Judy Benke, Elaine Foell, Julie Philbrook (Faith Community Nurses)
Ana Becerra, Nate Crary, KC Gubrud, Pr. Peter Hanson, Pr. John Schwehn (Staff)
While this change does not yet reinstate in-person Sunday worship in the CtK sanctuary (that is in Phase Four), there are notable adjustments in this current shift, which will be implemented as of April 5 , 2021.
- Funerals, baptisms, and weddings in the sanctuary may now include up to 75 people, provided they continue to be physically distanced, masked, and refrain from group singing and pre- or post-service gatherings.
- CtK committees, teams, and other groups will now be able to hold in-person meetings in the CtK building. For the time being, this will be limited to one meeting scheduled per day in the Trinity Rooms, with capacity capped at 12 in order to provide for physical distancing.
- Outside groups may also request indoor meeting space, similarly limited in capacity, frequency, and duration (with CtK groups given priority).
- If we find that this set-up is working and there is demand for more in-person meetings, the team will consider adding either more meeting times per day and/or additional meeting spaces in the building at a later date.
- While much could still change in the coming weeks and months, we are working with the assumption that we could begin to re-gather for Sunday morning worship in our sanctuary as early as the summer.
We thank God for the many ways that members of our congregation and community have done their part to move us this far in the right direction. At the same time, this public health crisis continues, and perhaps more than ever we need to not let up on our safe and healthy practices of wearing masks, washing hands, avoiding public gatherings, maintaining physical distance, and staying home as much as possible. Many have spoken of a “light at the end of the tunnel” as well as the anticipation of a return to some of the activities we have missed this past year. It would be unfortunate if we needed to dial back to a previous phase due to too quickly relaxing our efforts at containing this virus.
The CtK COVID Response Team remains open to your input and feedback. Any one of us would love to listen to your concerns or answer your questions to the best of our ability. As so many have said, we are in this together, and we will make it through this difficult time united as one body in Christ. Thanks for your continued prayers for the CtK COVID Response Team and for all the ongoing ministries of Christ the King.
The CtK COVID Response Team:
Brett Kosec, Diane Shallue, Dale Erickson, Bob Benke (Council)
Judy Benke, Elaine Foell, Julie Philbrook (Faith Community Nurses)
Ana Becerra, Nate Crary, KC Gubrud, Pr. Peter Hanson, Pr. John Schwehn (Staff)
CtK COVID Response Team Update, January 29, 2021
The CtK COVID Response Team met this week to consider the improving state of the COVID pandemic in Minnesota. Positive case numbers are down, hospitalizations and ICU admissions are down, and COVID-related deaths are down. The vaccines have arrived, and after a somewhat shaky start, the rollout has picked up pace throughout the state. Given this encouraging news, the CtK COVID Response Team has decided to move us from Phase One to Phase Two of CtK’s Phased Reopening Plan, with a few additional adjustments to the overall plan (for an updated version of the Plan, click here). These changes will be implemented as of February 1, 2021.
While the changes in this phase may be subtle, they are not insignificant. The main adjustment is in area of funerals, baptisms, and weddings, for which we have increased the overall capacity for these brief, in-person services. Please note that in-person worship on Sunday mornings in the sanctuary is still not envisioned until Phase Four. For this reason, we are working with the assumption that we will not re-gather for worship in our sanctuary until after Easter, and more likely not until after Memorial Day.
We can and should celebrate this remarkable movement in the right direction; at the same time, we need to be mindful that we are still very much in the middle of an ongoing public health crisis, and as such we all need to continue (and in some instances increase) our safe and healthy practices of wearing masks, washing hands, avoiding public gatherings, maintaining physical distance, and staying home as much as possible. There is a renewed sense of hope and expectation, and it would be a shame if we needed to dial back to a lower phase again, due in part to us too quickly relaxing our efforts at containing and reversing the advance of this virus.
The CtK COVID Response Team remains open to your input and feedback, and any one of us would love to listen to your concerns or answer your questions to the best of our ability. As so many have said, we are in this together, and we will make it through this difficult time united as one body in Christ. Thanks for your continued prayers for the CtK COVID Response Team and for all of the ongoing ministries of Christ the King.
The CtK COVID Response Team:
Brett Kosec, Dale Erickson, Jill Loegering (Council)
Judy Benke, Elaine Foell, Julie Philbrook (Faith Community Nurses)
Ana Becerra, Nate Crary, KC Gubrud, Pr. Peter Hanson, Pr. John Schwehn (Staff)
While the changes in this phase may be subtle, they are not insignificant. The main adjustment is in area of funerals, baptisms, and weddings, for which we have increased the overall capacity for these brief, in-person services. Please note that in-person worship on Sunday mornings in the sanctuary is still not envisioned until Phase Four. For this reason, we are working with the assumption that we will not re-gather for worship in our sanctuary until after Easter, and more likely not until after Memorial Day.
We can and should celebrate this remarkable movement in the right direction; at the same time, we need to be mindful that we are still very much in the middle of an ongoing public health crisis, and as such we all need to continue (and in some instances increase) our safe and healthy practices of wearing masks, washing hands, avoiding public gatherings, maintaining physical distance, and staying home as much as possible. There is a renewed sense of hope and expectation, and it would be a shame if we needed to dial back to a lower phase again, due in part to us too quickly relaxing our efforts at containing and reversing the advance of this virus.
The CtK COVID Response Team remains open to your input and feedback, and any one of us would love to listen to your concerns or answer your questions to the best of our ability. As so many have said, we are in this together, and we will make it through this difficult time united as one body in Christ. Thanks for your continued prayers for the CtK COVID Response Team and for all of the ongoing ministries of Christ the King.
The CtK COVID Response Team:
Brett Kosec, Dale Erickson, Jill Loegering (Council)
Judy Benke, Elaine Foell, Julie Philbrook (Faith Community Nurses)
Ana Becerra, Nate Crary, KC Gubrud, Pr. Peter Hanson, Pr. John Schwehn (Staff)
SEE BELOW FOR THE LATEST COVID-19 UPDATES
Wednesday, August 5th, 2020
CtK's Phased Reopening Plan
Meeting last week, the CtK COVID Response Team approved a Phased Reopening Plan, with four distinct phases of increased activity in our building. Following CDC guidelines and state Department of Health benchmarks, this plan allows for movement from one phase to the next after two consecutive weeks of decline cases of COVID-19 in Minnesota. Unfortunately, this plan also provides for “dialing back” the phases, should the case count begin to increase again. For this reason, we will not be hosting in-person worship on September 13th. In fact, right now we are working with the assumption that we will not re-gather in the sanctuary for worship for the remainder of 2020.
The chart (available in the link below) outlines which activities can be considered for each phase, in such areas as worship, committee meetings, community groups, and weddings & funerals. An additional link (also below) connects to a brief video by Pastor Peter and Julie Philbrook, one of our faith community nurses, explaining some of the thought process behind this new plan.
We are not out of the COVID woods yet, but hopefully this plan will help us as we continue take steps forward towards re-gathering in our CtK building.
Covid-19 Phased Reopening Chart
The CtK COVID Response Team:
Isaac Warner, Brett Kosec, Dale Erickson, Jill Loegering (Council)
Judy Benke, Elaine Foell, Julie Philbrook (Faith Community Nurses)
Ana Becerra, Nate Crary, KC Gubrud, Pr. Peter Hanson, Pr. John Schwehn (Staff)
CtK's Phased Reopening Plan
Meeting last week, the CtK COVID Response Team approved a Phased Reopening Plan, with four distinct phases of increased activity in our building. Following CDC guidelines and state Department of Health benchmarks, this plan allows for movement from one phase to the next after two consecutive weeks of decline cases of COVID-19 in Minnesota. Unfortunately, this plan also provides for “dialing back” the phases, should the case count begin to increase again. For this reason, we will not be hosting in-person worship on September 13th. In fact, right now we are working with the assumption that we will not re-gather in the sanctuary for worship for the remainder of 2020.
The chart (available in the link below) outlines which activities can be considered for each phase, in such areas as worship, committee meetings, community groups, and weddings & funerals. An additional link (also below) connects to a brief video by Pastor Peter and Julie Philbrook, one of our faith community nurses, explaining some of the thought process behind this new plan.
We are not out of the COVID woods yet, but hopefully this plan will help us as we continue take steps forward towards re-gathering in our CtK building.
Covid-19 Phased Reopening Chart
The CtK COVID Response Team:
Isaac Warner, Brett Kosec, Dale Erickson, Jill Loegering (Council)
Judy Benke, Elaine Foell, Julie Philbrook (Faith Community Nurses)
Ana Becerra, Nate Crary, KC Gubrud, Pr. Peter Hanson, Pr. John Schwehn (Staff)
Friday, May 29, 2020
Grace and peace to you. As promised, the Christ the King COVID-19 Response Team has continued to discuss ongoing plans related to our COVID-19 response.
In keeping with best practices as outlined by the CDC, Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), and the Saint Paul Area Synod, we have decided to suspend in-person worship at Christ the King through Rally Sunday, September 13th, 2020.
Grace and peace to you. As promised, the Christ the King COVID-19 Response Team has continued to discuss ongoing plans related to our COVID-19 response.
In keeping with best practices as outlined by the CDC, Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), and the Saint Paul Area Synod, we have decided to suspend in-person worship at Christ the King through Rally Sunday, September 13th, 2020.
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Read a message from Minnesota's Six ELCA Bishops
Read a message from Minnesota's Six ELCA Bishops
Friday, May 8, 2020
Friends,
Grace and peace to you. We hope that you and your families are well and staying safe and healthy. Following Governor Walz’s extension of the Stay Home MN order, we wanted to update you with the latest from church leadership. Members of the Christ the King COVID-19 Response Team (listed below) remain in direct contact and continue to—virtually—meet and discuss ongoing plans related to our COVID-19 response.
On Friday, May 1st, Gov. Walz announced that Minnesota’s stay at home order was extended to Monday, May 18th. The order also paves the way for more small businesses to reopen in the coming days and provides additional guidance on how to do so safely. Indeed, this is a breath of fresh air and I imagine many are wondering what this means for our faith community. In keeping with best practices as outlined by the CDC and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and after much deliberation and prayerful discernment, we have decided to extend the suspension of all in-person activity at Christ the King through June 15th. This will continue to include Sunday worship, weekday programming, community groups, and the closure of the front office. A further update will be provided by June 1st.
Friends,
Grace and peace to you. We hope that you and your families are well and staying safe and healthy. Following Governor Walz’s extension of the Stay Home MN order, we wanted to update you with the latest from church leadership. Members of the Christ the King COVID-19 Response Team (listed below) remain in direct contact and continue to—virtually—meet and discuss ongoing plans related to our COVID-19 response.
On Friday, May 1st, Gov. Walz announced that Minnesota’s stay at home order was extended to Monday, May 18th. The order also paves the way for more small businesses to reopen in the coming days and provides additional guidance on how to do so safely. Indeed, this is a breath of fresh air and I imagine many are wondering what this means for our faith community. In keeping with best practices as outlined by the CDC and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and after much deliberation and prayerful discernment, we have decided to extend the suspension of all in-person activity at Christ the King through June 15th. This will continue to include Sunday worship, weekday programming, community groups, and the closure of the front office. A further update will be provided by June 1st.
Saturday, March 21, 2020
Dear siblings in Christ,
We hope that you are well and staying safe and healthy. As more information is made available about the COVID-19 pandemic and the efforts being made to combat the spread, we wanted to update you with the latest from church leadership. Council, staff leaders, and our faith community nurses are in direct contact and continue to (virtually) meet to discuss ongoing plans related to our COVID-19 response.
As you may have heard, the CDC has updated their guidelines regarding mass gatherings and is recommending that gatherings of 50 or more people be suspended for 8 weeks, depending on local circumstances. In keeping with best practices as outlined by the CDC and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and after much deliberation and prayerful discernment, we have decided to extend the suspension of all activity at Christ the King through May 11th. This will continue to include Sunday worship, weekday programming, community groups, and the closure of the front office.
Dear siblings in Christ,
We hope that you are well and staying safe and healthy. As more information is made available about the COVID-19 pandemic and the efforts being made to combat the spread, we wanted to update you with the latest from church leadership. Council, staff leaders, and our faith community nurses are in direct contact and continue to (virtually) meet to discuss ongoing plans related to our COVID-19 response.
As you may have heard, the CDC has updated their guidelines regarding mass gatherings and is recommending that gatherings of 50 or more people be suspended for 8 weeks, depending on local circumstances. In keeping with best practices as outlined by the CDC and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and after much deliberation and prayerful discernment, we have decided to extend the suspension of all activity at Christ the King through May 11th. This will continue to include Sunday worship, weekday programming, community groups, and the closure of the front office.
Friday, March 13, 2020
Dear beloved community,
Out of a deep care for our neighbors, this faith community has decided to suspend our practice of gathering together physically for a little while. We make this decision for the sake of the sick, the vulnerable, and as a way to ease the strain on our healthcare systems and providers.
In God’s great wisdom, however, God gives us a living Word that breaks through locked doors and spans every social distance, inviting us to remain in relationship with God and community. Click below for some initial opportunities to remain centered in this Word that Christ the King is offering
Dear beloved community,
Out of a deep care for our neighbors, this faith community has decided to suspend our practice of gathering together physically for a little while. We make this decision for the sake of the sick, the vulnerable, and as a way to ease the strain on our healthcare systems and providers.
In God’s great wisdom, however, God gives us a living Word that breaks through locked doors and spans every social distance, inviting us to remain in relationship with God and community. Click below for some initial opportunities to remain centered in this Word that Christ the King is offering
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Dear siblings in Christ,
As we continue to hear of COVID-19 and what we can do to help stop its spread, church leadership met today to discuss plans that will ensure the health and safety of our beloved community. After prayerful discernment, the agreement of staff and council, and the recommendation of our faith community nurses, we have decided to suspend all activity at Christ the King beginning Friday, March 13th at 5:00PM until at least March 27th. This includes Sunday worship, weekday programming, community groups, and the closure of the front office.
Dear siblings in Christ,
As we continue to hear of COVID-19 and what we can do to help stop its spread, church leadership met today to discuss plans that will ensure the health and safety of our beloved community. After prayerful discernment, the agreement of staff and council, and the recommendation of our faith community nurses, we have decided to suspend all activity at Christ the King beginning Friday, March 13th at 5:00PM until at least March 27th. This includes Sunday worship, weekday programming, community groups, and the closure of the front office.
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Christ the King Lutheran Church
1900 7th Street NW New Brighton, MN 55112 Phone: 651-633-4674 Email: [email protected] Office Hours: 9 am - 2 pm Mon - Thurs or by appointment Sunday Schedule Morning Worship at 9:30 am |
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