Mask are required at all times.

If you do not bring a mask with you, one will be provided.

OUTDOOR SERVICE In order to try to provide an in-person worship experience for those who are still not ready to do so indoors, we will engage in outdoor worship on the front lawn and parking lot of the church at 10:30 today, September 20, weather permitting. This service is to determine interest. For those who prefer indoor or online worship, there will be an 8:00 indoor service.  We will also broadcast a worship recording at 10:30 am on that day as well.     

 If it is well attended, we may continue the practice as long as the weather holds out.  You are expected to bring your own lawn chairs and/or blankets. You may call the church, however, if you do not have any chairs and we will make arrangements for you to have chairs at the service.  The service will take place in the front lawn and parking area.  Please note that most spots in the front parking lot will be blocked off, but there will be a few spots available for those who would have an issue transporting chairs from the back lot.  

The general consensus is that outdoor settings are safer than indoors, but we will still be taking certain precautions.  With that in mind, please read the following information about the service before attending: 

• We will mark off distances of roughly 10 feet for each individual or family group.  
• Masks must be worn during any singing.  
• Communion will be available, with individuals and family groups coming forward one at a time.  
• Pastor Jeff and anyone assisting with the serving of communion will wear both masks and gloves.  
• Communion wafers, rather than pita bread, will be used.  

The service today, September 20^th is our experiment to determine interest.  If it goes well, we may continue the practice as long as the weather holds out.  

Any weather related changes will be announced on the church’s Facebook page and placed on the church’s outgoing voicemail announcement. The decision on whether to continue with an outdoor service past today, September 20 will be communicated in the same way.  

FROM THE OFFICE Staff will be working in the office and from home. If you need immediate assistance during our absence, please contact Pastor Jeff at 570-220-3631 or Sarah Young 570-932-1753. We will respond to your emails and calls as soon as possible, from the office and remotely. Thank you.

VISITING? If you’re not a member or regular attendee of St Luke Church but have been “visiting” us during this time of online worship, we’d love to connect with you! If you’ve been watching from afar or have just been using this time to “check us out” online, please send us an email at info@stlukeweb.com!

SHEPHERD OF THE STREETS Family sized hygiene items are always a blessing and our shelves are almost bare! A new collection basket is now located in the Bell Hall glass vestibule (across from the office entrance) for your donations, along with the basket in the West Hall.  This continues to be a necessary part of our Shepherd of the Streets ministry. The list follows:

Toothpaste and Toothbrushes

Shaving Cream and Razors

Shampoo and Conditioner

Women’s Hygiene Products

Towels and Wash Cloths

Bedding and Blankets

Tissues and Toilet Paper and Paper Towels

Soap            Deodorant            Combs

Adult Diapers (M, L and XL, especially M)

Baby Diapers and Pull-Ups (Sizes 1-6, especially 3-6)

Baby Shampoo        Baby Oil        Baby Wash

Baby Q-Tips    Baby Wipes        Baby Powder

FOOD PANTRY Please read carefully as instructions have changed.

The St. Luke Service Ministry invites you to join your fellow members, family and friends during these difficult times to fill “disposable” grocery bags with grocery items for the Food Pantry.  The food collection basket is now located in the Bell Hall glass vestibule (across from the office entrance) for your donations. Please do not use our St. Luke canvas bags, due to the COVID19. Thank you.  Trish Whelan and her son, Danny will check the basket and deliver the food to the United Churches Food Pantry, as needed. The pantry can always use any kind of: soup, ramen noodles, pasta, macaroni and cheese, granola bars, canned chicken or tuna, tea bags, hot chocolate packet, coffee, pop tarts, saltines, oatmeal packets, sugar, flour, ketchup, mustard, and all canned fruits and vegetables.

ORGANIST/CHOIR DIRECTOR St. Luke Lutheran Church, Williamsport, PA seeks a part-time organist/choir director for playing Sunday morning and other services along with leading the church choir.Those interested in the position should contact St. Luke Church office at info@stlukeweb.com or 570-323 -7309 for an application and full job description.

Greater Lycoming CROP Walk Sunday, October 11, 2020 at 1:00 P.M. Masks and Social Distancing Required The Williamsport walk begins at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 142 Market Street, Williamsport …with 3, 6 and 9 mile routes along the river walk. Or design a walk of your own. Look for more information to come….. and keep checking our Facebook page for updates. 

Return to Worship Plan: St Luke Lutheran Church

What we’re asking you to do:

• Mask are required at all times.  If you do not bring a mask with you, one will be provided. 
• Please do not sing upon our initial return.  This was as hard a decision to make as it is to hear, but most experts are saying that group singing increases the chances of transmission exponentially.  It is believed that singing was the major factor in those instances where churches in other states have opened and re-closed due to multiple cases of the virus among their members who were in attendance. 
• Please socialize outside of the church building.   Perhaps one of the things we are all looking most forward to is the opportunity to greet and fellowship with one another.  During the first few weeks, we ask that you do most of your socializing outside of the building.  You can certainly continue to talk once inside, but we ask that you proceed directly into the Nave and not stand around in hallways or other spaces.  For socializing, feel free to catch up in the courtyard, prattle on in the parking lot, or fraternize on the front lawn!  
• Once inside, proceed to your seat and sit only in places marked by a bulletin.  Bulletins will be placed at a six feet distance from each other, every other pew.  This restriction does not apply to members of the same household, who may sit closer together.  However, we ask that they not sit in pews with no bulletins and give ample room for others to sit in the remaining designated spaces. 
• Please use non-touch means of passing the peace.  As we did in the weeks leading up to quarantine, please use gestures like the peace sign, bowing, etc.  Bonus points may be offered for creative greetings. 
• Please leave nothing in the pews.  Take your bulletin and anything else with you.  This will help in the efforts to sanitize the space between services.  It’s kind of a shame that we won’t get to see your bulletin-doodles, though. 

This may seem like a lot, but please know that these measures are intended to be temporary, until there is more evidence that the risk of infection has significantly decreased. 

Other measures that are being taken:

• Because it involves the sharing of food, the practice of communion will be adapted. 
  • Servers will use gloves.
  • We will use communion wafers rather than sharing a loaf of bread. 
  • There will be no common cup.  The elements will be served in disposable cups for the wine/juice and condiment cups for the wafer.
  • Distribution of the elements will be done differently – please note the instructions at the beginning of the service. 
• The hymnals will be removed to avoid having additional items to clean between services.  The bulletin will include the entire service. 
• Children should remain in their seats during the children’s message, rather than coming forward.  Pastor Jeff believes that we’re all children at heart anyway, so he’s looking forward to giving the children’s message to the entire congregation. 
• The service will be shortened to reduce the amount of time spent indoors.  The focus will be on the essentials: Word, prayers, and communion. 
• The restrooms in West Hall will remain open, but all will be encouraged to wash thoroughly after use. 
• The offering plates will not be passed.  Instead, plates will be placed in the aisles and at the back of the church for you to place the offering either before or after the service.