Public Worship
Join Us!
St. Paul’s will hold public worship on Sundays. Services are limited to 50 people and will be by reservation only.
Solemn High Mass – 10:00 am
Misa en Español – 12:15 pm
Please contact Adriana Ramirez at (912) 257-7163 or adrianav@gmail.com
Outdoor Evening Prayer & Mass – 5:30 pm
These liturgies will be held outside, so please bring a chair.
In the event of weather, we will gather in Bishop Brady Hall.
RESERVATIONS
We are doing Public Worship Reservations via Realm. You must create an account in order to register.
Please click the link below to log-in to Realm. If you do not have an account, you can create one at the link below by clicking “Register Now”. This will allow you to view all available services in one place. You may also cancel reservations through your account.
or
Call the Church Office at (912) 232-0274.
Please leave a message with your contact information to reserve a spot, if you do not want to use Realm.
Please make your reservations no later than Friday at 12:00pm.
If, for any reason, you are unable to keep your reservation – or know that a member or members of your “party” will be unable to attend – please notify the parish office of the cancellation, so that we can offer seating to those on our waitlist. Again, as we move forward with in-person worship, preference will be given to those who have been waitlisted in prior weeks.
Masses will continue to be live-streamed at their respective service times.
Safety Guidelines
As we return to in-person worship, the health and safety of all participants is our first priority. The following guidelines detail what to expect in this initial phase of re-opening. If you are ready to take this step, we look forward to seeing you in the pews. While our goal will be to make these services as welcoming and safe as possible, no one is required to attend in-person worship at this time. Our Public Worship is also available virtually by live-stream. If you are unable to participate at the appointed service times, please know all past services are available for viewing on our Facebook page.
Prior to visiting us in person, please review these important guidelines and safety measures
to ensure a safe reopening to Public Worship!
How to Make reservations
When making a reservation, the number of “guests” includes family members and anyone, of any age, who comes with you. Every service is strictly limited to 50 participants (including clergy, organist, and other ministers of the service). Reservations requested after we have reached that limit will be placed on a waitlist with priority for a following Sunday. You will be assigned a seat when you arrive. We cannot reserve “favorite” pews, as all participants will be seated from the front to the back of the nave as they arrive, and will exit from the back to the front, after the Dismissal.
If, for any reason, you are unable to keep your reservation – or know that members of your “party” will be unable to attend – please notify the parish office of the cancellation, so that we can offer seating to those on our waitlist. Again, as we move forward with in-person worship, preference will be given to those who have been waitlisted in prior weeks.
Public Worship is not for everyone at this time.
- If you have higher risk factors – such as age or at at-risk underlying condition – or believe you might expose someone who has higher risk factors, you should NOT attend.
- If you are running a temperature, exhibit other symptoms of COVID-19, or have been recently exposed to someone who has, you mist NOT attend.
COVID-19 SCREENING QUESTIONS
1. In the last 14 days, have you tested positive for COVID-19?
2. In the last 14 days, have you had close contact with anyone confirmed to have COVID-19?
[The CDC defines Close Contact as “…within six feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes starting from 2 days before [their] illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, 2 days prior to positive specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated]
3. In the last 14 days, have you experienced or are you currently experiencing any of the following conditions that you would not typically experience?
a. Fever of more than 100.4
b. Difficulty breathing
c. Persistent cough
d. Loss of taste or smell
4. Are you currently experiencing two or more new symptoms of the following conditions that you would not typically experience?
a. Fatigue
b. Congestion or runny nose
c. Muscle or body aches
d. Headache
e. Sore throat
f. Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
If you answered YES to any of these questions, you may not enter any church facility.
Public Worship requires safety protocols.
- Check-in will take place at the church door, which will be opened 30 minutes before the service and end 5 minutes after the service begins.
- Parishioners will be asked to maintain social distance, wear a mask, and sanitize their hands.
- A mask will be provided if you do not bring your own.
- Parishioners are asked to follow the ushers’ directions. For the purposes of contact tracing, should that become necessary, where you are seated during services will be documented and may be assigned.
- At all times, parishioners should maintain social distance, and refrain from hugging, kissing, and shaking hands.
- Communion will be administered at the Rood Screen in one kind with the observance of safety protocols. The ushers will give you prompts for leaving your pews.
- There will be no singing and no coffee hour, and parishioners are urged not to cluster together in groups after the service.
- We believe our Faith calls us to practice patience, courtesy, and respect – especially with and toward those who are volunteering as ushers; and to model responsible behavior to other parishioners.
How to Prepare & What to Expect.
- To attend a Sunday In-Person Service, you must reserve a seat through the Parish website via Realm or by calling the parish office. Please know attendance will be limited to 50 people, including clergy and other ministers of the service.
- Masks and social distancing are required inside all parts of the building and outside on church grounds. Everyone over the age of two attending an in-person worship service—indoors or outdoors—must wear a mask throughout the service. If you do not have a mask, know that you will be given a mask to wear.
- The gathering ministries of our Nursery, Sunday School, and Coffee Hour in the Parish Hall are temporarily postponed until further notice.
- Sunday Services will be shorter, approximately 40 minutes.
- Prior to entering the nave of the Church, there will be a “no-contact” temperature check and screening interview at the door. If you do not have a mask, a mask will be provided.
- Everyone must also sanitize their hands upon entering a church building; keep a safe distance of six feet; and avoid physical contact with other participants in the service, on the church grounds, or in our buildings.
- Please note: collection plates will be placed just after the hand-sanitizer stations at the entrance. After you have sanitized your hands, you may place your monetary offerings in the designated collection plate.
- Ushers will confirm your reservation and take you to your seat. They will verify the information you provided on making your reservation, in order to facilitate contact-tracing requirements.
- An usher will guide you to an assigned seat, in order to facilitate contact tracing. Please remain in
the seat assigned to you.
- There will be a one-way traffic pattern in place for use throughout the service. Please plan to follow the traffic arrows and signs. This pattern will ask you to enter and move forward (toward the east end) by the center aisle, and to exit or return to your pew (toward the west) by the outer aisles.
- When moving through the worship space – entering, leaving, or moving toward or from the reception of Holy Communion – you must follow the signs directing all traffic into and out of and through the nave as well as into and out of the pews. While traveling inside, do your best to practice safe distance and avoid crossing paths with other people.
- Seating in the nave is arranged to provide critical social distance. Please do not sit in areas marked with an X. Sit instead in unmarked areas. No one is to sit directly in front of or behind another person.
- You will find a single-use bulletin leaflet in your assigned seat. Following the service, you may take it home with you or drop it in the designated disposal bins located outside.
- And for your health and well-being, please avoid when possible the use of our public restrooms; and when you visit them, please follow the directives posted there.
Liturgical Modifications
- Because a given worship service can be no longer than 40 minutes, slight changes may be made to the service.
- Because public singing is a potential health risk, we are not able to sing the hymns we love. Let your heart sing for you, and give thanks for the joyful work of our organist and organ, lifting the songs of our hearts to God.
- At the Peace, you are asked to remain in your pew and share the Peace of God with those immediately beside you without the use of your hands (by waving, bowing, etc.) while maintaining at last six feet of distance.
- About the Offertory: As noted above, you may offer your monetary gifts and pledges at the door.
- Holy Communion will be administered at the Rood steps in one kind only, i.e., you will receive the bread consecrated as the Body of Christ. At the direction of the ushers, you should come forward with your mask on and remove it only to consume the consecrated bread.
In the event of an outbreak
We are required to close the building for 14 days following an ‘outbreak.’ An outbreak is defined as three positive cases. If and when a member of the Clergy, staff, parishioner or visitor should experience any one of the following:
- You are asymptomatic and have been exposed to someone who tests positive for COVID-19.
- You have symptoms and have been exposed to someone who tests positive for COVID-19.
- You have a positive COVID-19 test result.
Within 48 hours of attending a service at St. Paul’s, you should contact either of the persons listed below who are responsible for Gathering and Responding to Confidential Parish Health Information:
Deacon Susan Gahagan (912) 398-0390 deaconsue@stpaulsavannah.org
Adriana Ramirez (912) 257-7163 adrianav@gmail.com
Required Church Preperations for Public Worship
SERVICE ATTENDANCE & DURATION: 50 people, 40 minutes
All public worship services inside the church will provide seating for no more than fifty people (including all ministers of the service) at a time and for a duration of approximately forty minutes.
CLEANING & PREPARING THE WORSHIP SPACE:
All individuals who prepare or clean a given area must wear PPE, N95 masks, and gloves, and must practice social distancing as they work.
REQUIRED BEFORE WORSHIP SERVICES
1. We will remove and store all books currently found in the nave and choir.
2. Restrooms, recommended for emergency use only, will be marked with signs detailing their use according to mandatory guidelines: one person at a time, face masks during use, five minutes between persons using restroom, the use of paper towels to touch surfaces where possible, the application of hand sanitizer upon leaving restroom.
3. Worship space in the Nave will include the following changes:
a. Hand Sanitizer (min. 70% alcohol) stations at the entrance full and ready.
b. Marked Bins outside the church for disposal of mass booklets.
c. Mass leaflets in pews, one per seat.
d. Offertory plates will be present at the entrance.
e. Also at the entrance will be a register to verify reservation data.
4. Signs naming Safe Practices will be posted.
REQUIRED DURING WORSHIP SERVICES
1. A clearly marked Indoor One-Way Traffic Plan for the service.
2. A means of recording the names, numbers, and seat assignments of all service attendees.
3. Ushers to assist the parish in following the required directives: providing masks to those
who arrive without one, directing people to the hand sanitizer, overseeing the flow of traffic.
4. A person of record (to record names and phone numbers of all participants). Please note: the designated person of record will be the only one who touches the pen and paper. At the close of the service, this the record will be filed with the parish office.
5. Again, all ushers, greeters, and persons of record will wear masks and practice social distance in their various roles.
REQUIRED AFTER WORSHIP SERVICES
There will be a deep and thorough germicidal cleansing of all utilized space.
Covid-19 Task Force Members
Members: Erick Nowicki & Marsha Tolbert (Co-chairs), Sarah Ward (Sr. Warden), Mark Frissell (Jr. Warden), Alan Boulton, Christina Chancey, Heather Downs, Dr. Jamie Downs, Craig Hopkins, Kris Lee, Adriana Ramirez, Jerry Riley, McDowel Fogle, Fr. William Willoughby, Deacon Sue Gahagan, Mtr. Lauren Byrd
Our guidelines for in-person worship were prepared by our COVID-19 Task Force, approved unanimously by our Vestry, and certified by the Diocese of Georgia as required.
They are informed by, and responsive to, health directives issued by the national Center for Disease Control and our state and local governments, in order to support the worship life of St. Paul’s with practices that are science-supported and life-giving.
St. Paul’s COVID-19 Task Force, appointed by the vestry, will regularly review these plans in light of the shifting data and directives of health professionals and governing bodies. Everyone who enters the doors of our parish must follow these directives. Keep in mind, this, too, is the practice of Christian Hospitality. If you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns, please reach out to a member of our COVID-19 Task Force.