St. Anne’s Reopening Task Force has continued to meet several times a month to consider all aspects of outdoor and indoor gatherings. Much of our attention has been focused on embellishing the outdoor services begun last summer by offering communion at 8am and adding an occasional Sunday afternoon service, complete with firepit. The first of these was held October 18 and the next is planned for November 22. It may become a regular offering.

Our focus for moving indoors has been on the migration of the 8am service into the sanctuary, while retaining the 10am online service indefinitely. We have been considering ventilation issues, seating capacity, and arrangements. Nevertheless, the group has decided that the recent deterioration of virus statistics in the area will force a postponement of this move until those numbers improve. As a result, we are exploring ways to continue outdoors even as winter approaches, perhaps moving the outdoor service to later in the day or even adding some heaters. We will be weather dependent regardless.

Finally, we are brainstorming ideas for new forms of gathering, especially for the coming holidays, either outdoors in person or even in our cars, as wonderfully demonstrated by the recent Evensong service. “Parking lot church” may seem odd at first, and especially so in our cars, but cars do offer the benefit of warmth, safety from virus transmission, much greater potential attendance with no signup required, and, not least, perhaps recorded or even live music! So we shall see about that.

If you have any ideas you’d like to share, feel free to email the wardens, at clovellcarmody@gmail.com or shively5@comcast.net.

—Tom Shively