Dear St. Luke’s Family,

Due to the state of Ohio COVID numbers falling at a significant rate we believe it is time for St. Luke’s to loosen our restrictions. This Sunday, we would ask that you be aware of your own need as well as others to continue social distancing (stickers will be available at the front door if you wish to be identified as someone at risk and would prefer that people keep a 6 foot social distance out of respect for you.) Because the CDC has shortened the requirements from 6ft. to 3 ft in schools, we feel comfortable lifting the floor tape and request that you self-regulate and be sensitive to others as noted above. Until Pentecost, we ask that people continue to wear masks while traveling around the building, coming forward for communion and during worship, which is cause for the greatest concerns because of the distance that particulates can move while singing.

It is our intent that on Pentecost Sunday we will remove our mask restrictions completely. We also plan to take down our bathroom protocol signs and add additional seating to the sanctuary. We will continue to request that people be careful, use Purell often, be sensitive to others who wish to continue wearing masks or who are staying distant. We will respectfully request that if you have any symptoms of cold, flu or COVID to please stay home and join our online livestream service.  

We will continue to monitor the state of Ohio’s daily infection rates and believe that barring any future spikes in new cases by Pentecost we will have cause for celebration.  We plan to reopen the café and have some hospitality after church so we can once again enjoy the fellowship that we have all come to appreciate. Moving forward provided we see the number of cases continue to trend down we will carefully resume our café hospitality offering coffee and food to be served.

I want to thank you for your patience with me, the Vestry and the staff during this pandemic. We have worked hard to strike a balance by operating with prudence and not fear, with wisdom and not judgement. There have been a host of opinions on both sides of the mask discussion, and we understand the frustrations from each point of view.  We believe over the course of the year we have done our best to error on the side of caution.  

As you know, we have had some cases of COVID in our congregation, but they were well contained, managed and healed. We are thankful for God’s covering and the time is coming soon when we can once again see your smiling faces while we gather together to praise him.

Continue to Pray. Exert care where necessary and may the Joy of the Lord be your strength!

Blessings,

Fr. Dan

St. Luke’s will be offering a Youth Alpha Course, in-person and in the Light Teen Center beginning Sunday, April 18th.

All youth and their friends are welcome to explore faith, meaning, and life’s big questions. 

The course will run from April 18 through June 27th (with breaks for Mother’s and Father’s Day).

The meetings will begin after church at 12:oo PM (noon) and end at 1:30 PM.  A light lunch will be provided each week. 

If interested, please contact Mike or Sonja Carson.

On April 30th, we will roll up our sleeves and partner with the American Red Cross to hold what we expect to be the first of many blood drives here at St. Luke’s Church from 12:00 noon until 6:00 pm.  The Red Cross has over 135 years of experience providing humanitarian aid including more than 75 years of supplying blood to those in need. 

Each pint of blood we collect can help save up to three lives and will touch the lives of so many more.  What a great way to pay it forward and make an impact on people in our community and across the country.  We are very excited about the drive and I hope you are too. 

If you have any questions or would like to reserve a time to donate blood, you can contact the Red Cross or Jim Fulton.