Winter Worship at Third
Third Outside has proved to be a welcomed gift in a season of disconnection. Through these services, we’ve worshipped with old friends and many new neighbors as well. And yet, we knew they were never a permanent solution—and they would be constrained by bad weather and cold temperatures. So we are excited to announce a new service option that will begin on November 15:
In-person worship services
in the Fellowship Hall at 9:00 and 11:00 a.m.
These services will be socially distanced and require reservations, but will enable us to continue to worship together in body and spirit through the coldest months of the year. We know this is a change from what we communicated in August, and we know that these services will accommodate less people than we can outside. But from the beginning of the pandemic, our goal for worship has been to maximize the opportunity for embodied worship, not just for ourselves, but for our neighbors as well.
And this is what we’ve witnessed in Third Outside: we’ve met many neighbors and seen tremendous growth in our people. We’ve watched more folks step up in leadership, many playing an active role in worship. Our tentative plan is to return to outdoor worship in the early spring when the temperatures warm up so we continue building on this growth.
Home Worship
We know that these in-person services will be limited both by space and people’s comfort level with gathering indoors. To that end, we will continue to support and encourage gathering together at homes in small pods (2–3 households) for worship. If you are newer to Third and would like some help connecting to an in-home gathering near you, contact Jenny. Stay tuned for more resources to equip you for worshipping at home!
We now look back on the past 7 months, and though it was nothing any of us could have expected, we have seen the Lord’s leading through it all. We are excited to see how he will continue to work through our worship this winter.
In-person services will begin on November 15
Sundays at 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall
(Both services will be live-streamed)
| All attendees must register the week beforehand. |
| Seating will be limited for social distancing. |
| Masks will be required. |
What does this mean for Online Worship? We will absolutely be continuing our online worship. We will live-stream both the 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. services from the Fellowship Hall, with chat and interactive elements. (This does mean the time of our online service is changing! It will no longer stream at 10:00 a.m., but once at 9:00 a.m. and once at 11:00 a.m.)
What are the safety protocols you will have in place? We are actively finalizing this and will share our plans in the coming weeks. Please stay tuned!
When will sign-ups open? Registration will be open the Sunday before, and will close at noon on Friday.
Will Sunday School or nursery care be available for my kids? No, at this point, we will not be opening any rooms for Sunday school or nursery care. But we do welcome your kids to worship with us!
I don’t feel comfortable coming to a service, but I would like to worship with another family or household. Is this an option? Yes! We want to continue to see individuals and families across the city gather– as they have been!– in small pods for at-home worship, and we want to equip them to do this! We plan to provide resources (including the recording of the 9:00 a.m. service and sermon) for these groups to use by late Sunday morning. Be on the lookout in the coming weeks for updated worship resources to help facilitate this time.
How do I find people to join my at-home worship pod? If you’ve been at Third a while, we encourage you to reach out to some folks in your Parish to discuss this possibility! If you are newer to Third and would like some help connecting to an in-home gathering near you, contact Jenny.
What does this mean for Christmas Eve? Stay tuned! We are working on plans to maximize the number of people who can worship in our Christmas Eve services.
Does this mean the building will be open for other events? No, as has been the policy since March, our facilities will remain closed during the week. Our staff and leadership may be using our Fellowship Hall and outdoor spaces for select events in the coming months, but those will be subject to approval and strict safety restrictions.