THE PINNACLE PLAN:
NEXT STEPS
OUR VALUES AND DECISIONS In the Pinnacle Plan, sent out and posted online (pinnaclepres.org/health) in early June, we spoke of values adopted by Pinnacle's Session early in the pandemic to guide decision making. Those are: WITNESS: We seek to honor the One we serve in all we do. PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL: We will let nothing hinder our essential call, to tell the story of God's love for all people in Jesus Christ. NEIGHBORLINESS: We care not just for ourselves but for all people. CARE FOR THE VULNERABLE: Following Christ, we care especially for those most at risk. REFUGE: The church should be a place of physical safety for all who participate. FELLOWSHIP OF THE SAINTS: We are called to be together in worship, friendship, and mission; we join all who have gone before and are yet to come in that fellowship. We also said that: We see this not as a time of restricted activities, but of expanded activities. We see this not as a time of withdrawal, but of new kinds of engagement. We see this not as a time to focus only on ourselves, but as an opportunity for deeper compassion and love for others. We also see this as a time to share our values, even with different points of view on how to enact them. We see this, therefore, as a moment to be the church. We've moved forward following these values and this call. So many have stepped forward, given of their time, money, love and prayer. Ministry has continued and even grown stronger. The experience of Arizona, and Maricopa County in particular, during the summer has demonstrated, without doubt, that COVID-19 can touch any one of us and is not easily controlled. But beyond how it may impact us, we also see how much it impacts others in so many walks of life and how our actions can have a positive effect. We believe that our cautious approach, based on our values, has been both faithful and responsible. We make no judgment about congregations that have taken different approaches than ours, but remain confident in our own.
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Our Opportunity Now! As indicators now suggest that we might re-engaged physically, under guidelines that are genuinely followed, Session met in special meeting on August 16 to consider three proposals developed and reviewed by our medical and implementation teams and presented to Session by our Pastor. These proposals included • a matrix for determining safe and prudent in-person programming (monitored and revised in light of community spread of COVID-19), • a proposal for restarting in-person worship (simultaneously livestreamed to participants unable to be present); • and a plan for a theologically sound celebration of Holy Communion while our worship is in a hybrid form.
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THE PINNACLE PLAN: NEXT STEPS How We're Deciding on In-person Gatherings Following the advice of medical experts and statistical information from the Maricopa Department of Public Health, we're adapting the approach of the county by averaging two weeks of statistics in three areas to determine COVID-19 community spread risk level every two weeks: low, medium, or high. We'll then determine the relative safety of gatherings by a Pinnacle scale that balances risk with the nature of a proposed program: the numbers of people involved, the length of a gathering, and the space in which the gathering is proposed. We'll presume strict following of physical distance guidelines in all gatherings, including but not limited to the wearing of masks over mouth and nose, physical distancing of at least six feet between individuals or groups who don't live together (more distance if singing or speaking loudly!), care in washing or disinfecting hands, use of restrooms limited according to size of the restroom. Outdoor gatherings will also presume physical distancing, but the wearing of masks outside will be optional. Mask wearing is not optional for indoor events, or during any indoor portion of a combined indoor/outdoor event. Each of our rooms on campus will be given a new rating for total occupancy, presuming an hour long, physically distanced, gathering. If a longer gathering is proposed, room capacity will be adjusted or a larger room will be suggested. We'll ask that if you're unable or unwilling to follow these guidelines, that you kindly refrain from physical participation at this time. You may always participate online if an opportunity is provided—and we plan to still offer as many online opportunities as possible. For your interest, our community spread measurements we will be these: Two weeks of PCR test percent positive for Maricopa County Two weeks of "COVID-like illness" (CLI) reported by hospitals for Maricopa County Two weeks of numbers of positive COVID cases per 100,000 residents for the State of Arizona Pandemic related needs of mission partners (such as UMOM, Andre House, Vista del Camino, the Presbytery of the Grand Canyon, Harmony Ministries, Dar al Kalima University in Bethlehem) will be determined by our Mission Ministry Group. All uses of the fund will be transparent to the session, with appropriate discretion maintained. Staff responsible for a program will have access to these ratings and will continue to monitor them. If a lay led group would like to propose a gathering, please call the church office to receive a detailed description of these room and program ratings and the process to follow to propose an event and seek permission to hold it. Leaders of events will be responsible to arranging for any needed disinfecting of spaces and encouraging strict following of our distancing guidelines. Each Monday we will make a determination of our community spread potential and note what kinds of in-person gatherings we expect to be available on campus for the next two weeks. 4 | THE PINNACLE PLAN - NEXT STEPS
This process might look complicated, but we believe it actually allows us to say yes to physical gatherings both safely and easily, because of the care it calls out.
Worship - Looking forward to a Reunion Communion While we're watching COVID indicators, we're also busy preparing the sanctuary for reliable, high quality, livestreaming of worship when we return to Sunday morning worship. Even when worshippers are in the pews we will be online. This includes planning a COVID safe worship experience with social distancing guidelines and procedures, as well as doing significant audio, wiring, Internet, and technology repairs and upgrades for livestreaming. Repairs and upgrades. In addition to repairs to water damaged areas of our chancel and water feature, our sewage and lift station system are being upgraded. The A/V work is including three companies and terrific effort of staff. That will include inside and outside installation of fiber optic cabling, installation of audio upgrades for stability and capacity, installation of ability to record music from the chancel, remotely controlled cameras for video recording and livestreaming, hiring of professional staff to manage media ministries, and training of staff and volunteers. If all goes according to schedule, we'll see these efforts completed by the end of September. This work is being completed through special giving of members. If you'd like to contribute, contact the church office. When that work is complete and COVID-19 community spread indicators remain favorable, we will return to the sanctuary for live Sunday morning worship. We are planning for that to be at 10:00 a.m. on October 4. That is World Communion Sunday, and so in ways we'll be unfolding over the next few weeks, we plan to share a "Reunion Communion" that Sunday—inclusive of folks in the sanctuary and folks at home who'd like to participate. We'll provide the elements of Communion, from the church, for folks who are here in the Valley and unable to come in person. Details on how we will gather, our social distancing guidelines for worship, and how we'll share the sacrament will come your way as we move into September. | 5
CONDITIONS ALLOWING
In Worship. In person. Sunday, October 4 | 10 am | Pinnacle Sanctuary
A Reunion Communion
SOCIAL DISTANCING GUIDELINES TO BE FOLLOWED SERVICE TO BE LIVESTREAMED ON VIMEO AND PINNACLE WEBPAGE DETAILS TO FOLLOW
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Pinnacle Presbyterian Church Session Susan Bacon Erin Boyd Susan Brown Kim Bussey Terry Coult Melissa Felt Rick Hess Thomas Hoehner James Lipscomb John Napolitan Mary Upchurch George Welu Dr. Wes Avram (Moderator) Mark Leinweber (Clerk of Session) Susan Rose (Treasurer)
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25150 North Pima Road | Scottsdale, AZ 85255 | pinnaclepres.org