Worship Service Update

Dear Members and Friends of IBCZ,

As was announced last Sunday, and as you probably know, the Swiss Government has enacted new regulations for public gatherings in light of the increasing number of people infected with Covid.  As of now, these measures will be in place until Jan. 24, 2022.

Public gatherings, which includes church worship services, must do one of two things.  One option is for everyone attending to present a valid vaccine certificate or a negative test result.  The second option is to limit attendance to a maximum of 50 people.

The church leadership has decided to abide by the second option and limit our worship attendance to 50 people.  To make sure we do not surpass that limit, we will once again need to have people register in advance if they will be attending worship that Sunday.  We will be using the same platform as before – Eventbrite.  The link is available in our Newsletter, on our Website and Facebook page.  Registration for a particular service will open the preceding Monday.  Both facemasks and social distancing are still required.  Of course, we will continue to provide live streaming for those who will be worshiping from home.

The regulations indicate this would be 50 people in the sanctuary, but volunteers, such as those helping with music, tech, ushering, greeting, and preaching do not count toward the 50-person limit, so we can have approximately 60 people in the sanctuary, which is about what we have been having in recent weeks.  Children and Sunday School teachers will be downstairs, so they do not count toward the limit in the sanctuary.  This means parents should take their children downstairs immediately upon arriving rather than having children remain in the sanctuary for the first part of the worship service as we have done before.

While we were all hoping all such regulations were behind us, having to register and wear face masks is really only a minor inconvenience – especially when we consider the obstacles some of our Christian brothers and sisters in persecuted lands face.  So let us gather enthusiastically for worship – whether in the sanctuary or at home – even as we pray the virus will subside.

Grace and peace,

Bob