Pastor Jen’s Farewell Celebration
May 23 | 10:00 a.m. (after the 9:00 a.m. Worship Service)
As was shared previously, effective July 1st, Pastor Jen has been appointed by the Bishop of the Wisconsin Conference to serve as the Senior Pastor of Willerup United Methodist Church in Cambridge, Wisconsin. After serving eight years as our Senior Pastor at Wheatland Salem Church, she and Bill will be returning to her roots in Wisconsin. In electing to use her earned vacation time beginning on May 27th, her last Sunday with us will be on May 23rd. Therefore, to honor Jen and Bill, we invite you to attend this day of celebration with us after the 9:00 am worship service.
The CDC, the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church, and the State of Illinois have recently made important announcements about capacity guidelines for meetings, conferences and conventions, which include attendance regulations at church worship settings. Therefore, we would like to apprise you of our newly-revised plan pertaining to our church worship services and meetings going forward.
Effective immediately:
1. Worship: All worship services will take place in the sanctuary at 60% of our room capacity. This means that we will accommodate up to a maximum of 180 people for an in-person worship service. We will continue to offer live streaming at 9:00 a.m. There will be no 'overflow' seating provided in the Community Room (Gym) until we exceed the defined capacity mandate for the sanctuary.
2. Registration for Worship: As we have done since early February, we are requesting that you still register in advance via our online process for the worship service(s) you are planning to attend. Furthermore, your presence will be recorded as you enter the sanctuary. This practice will allow us to keep track of those in attendance on any given Sunday morning in case there is a need for contact tracing.
3. Seating Arrangements: Congregants will be able to select their seats based upon a first-come, first-served basis in similar fashion to our pre-COVID pandemic seating process. Note, there will no longer be any seat-spacing between families. Also, for those desiring a "safer" seat, an additional seating area in the hallway, as well as in the "choir" area of the sanctuary, will be provided for those wanting to worship with our community but needing a little extra space. We will continue to leave the sanctuary doors open to provide better air circulation and safety.
4. Masks: Masks are required to enter our building facility whether it be for a Sunday worship service or another meeting inside the church.
5. Pastor Jen's Celebration of Ministry: We are preparing for a great celebration of ministry this Sunday, May 23rd at 9:00 a.m. We will also offer the Live Stream option. Finally, there will be a reception following our worship together under the tent outside Door 5. Please register click here to attend worship with us if you have not already done so.
We are excited about this important next step at Wheatland! We look forward to safely worshipping with you!
After the worship service, we will immediately gather outside to celebrate this special day with Jen and Bill.
Weather permitting, we will gather under the tent between door #4 & #5, off the main parking lot, with a special cake and bottled water. The theme for the day will be "Hello, Wisconsin." As per CDC guidelines, we will maintain social distance and masks will be required. There will be a box for any gifts/gift cards or notes your family wishes to give her.
Prior to that time, we will be offering note paper for you to express your personal good wishes. There will be three note paper designs and you may write your own personal memories, greetings and blessings for Jen and Bill as they begin a new adventure across the "cheddar curtain."
Attached to this email is a pdf with three choices of templates for your personal notes. There are two ways to pick out a note for your use: First Option: Click on each of the icons to view them. Select your favorite by clicking on the download icon in the upper right of the page. The downloaded MSWord file will appear at the bottom of your screen. Click on this file to open the MSWord screen. Then you can put the cursor in the shaded white box to type in a message to Jen. You can save the file on your computer if you want to. Then print the note paper out on your color printer. Second Option: Open one of the note sheets in MSWord and print it out on your color printer. If you are unable to print the note, there will be copies in the bin outside door #5. Then you may hand write your message to Pastor Jen.
Please deliver your message to the weatherproof bin outside of door #5 until May 14th. We will be sure to include it in the farewell memory album.
If you need any assistance, please contact Georgia Harle @ 630-640-0444.
In His Service,
The Celebration Planning Team Georgia Harle, Nancy Proctor, Linda Kviz, Deb Lionberger