Worship Guidelines during Pandemic

During these “uncertain times” of the Covid 19 pandemic, Zion has been offering continually evolving ways to come together for worship. Scroll down for details about Indoor Worship, Outdoor Worship, and Online Worship.

Outdoor Worship: Worship will be offered outdoors beginning April 25, 2021 and after, if the weather is particularly good. We will gather in the parking lot behind the church building.  Please wear a mask, bring your own chair, and dress warmly. The church building will not be open for restrooms or other reasons, so please plan ahead.  Use caution in the parking lots because they will both temporarily be used for entering and exiting the church grounds.

Indoor Worship: When safe, we will offer worship in the sanctuary. We ask that all members and visitors abide by the following:

  • Please stay home if you don’t feel well, have been exposed to COVID in the past 2 weeks, are running a fever, lost your sense of taste or smell, or have visited a state that is on the Governor’s travel restrictions. The service will be taped and available as soon as possible later on YouTube.
  • Please RSVP if you plan to attend in person church by calling 860-267-6480 by the Thursday prior to the Sunday worship you plan to attend. This is to allow us to make appropriately distanced seating arrangements and to keep attendance within the allowed 48 persons.
  • All people entering the church are required to wear a mask at all times.  All children ages 3 and older will need a mask.
  • Ushers will help you ascertain the best place to sit.
  • There will be no congregational or choir singing or communion at the service.

Our goal is to maintain health and safety of the congregation. If an attendee at a service becomes ill with COVID, church may be cancelled the following two weeks.  All will be notified of possible exposure.

Online Worship: Zion has been offering online, creative and meaningful worship services since March 2020. These services are available on YouTube. Search “Zion Lutheran Church Portland CT” to find them. Recordings of outdoor and when available indoor services will also be posted to YouTube as soon as possible. All members and guests who are not comfortable worshiping are encouraged to view those online services.