Dear People of God at St. Paul’s by-the-Lake,

In light of recent restrictions by the State of Illinois effective October 31, to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the Diocese of Chicago has limited church gatherings to 25 people at a time. This poses a particular challenge for the 10:30 am Mass on Sunday, as we have recently been reaching our previous 50-person capacity.

A long-term plan for the duration of this new restriction will be determined by the Vestry very soon. For this Sunday, however, we will do the following:

We will open Banner Hall as “overflow” for the 10:30 Mass. The Mass will be live-streamed there, and a Licensed Eucharistic Minister will be present to administer communion from the Reserved Sacrament.
In particular, we invite families with children to worship from Banner Hall who will participate in Sunday School, as this will allow easy access to Church School, which will continue to be held in the library.
Likewise, once we have reached our 25-person limit in the Nave, the ushers will direct all others to Banner Hall until we reach the limit there.
Entrance into Banner Hall will be through the door from the parking lot. This allows us to keep the two “gatherings” of people separate.
Alternatively, I would encourage regular attendees of the 10:30 Mass to consider coming instead at 8:00, or even on a weekday.

It is, of course, disappointing that the situation has taken this turn. However, we are grateful that we can continue to hold services in the church building. As we continue to face these difficult times together, may we be united in our common call to serve and worship God as his people.

Faithfully,

Fr. Kemp+

P.S. Remember, Daylight Savings Time ends this weekend. Remember to set your clocks back one hour (“fall back”) before going to bed Saturday night.