Presbyterian Church in Columbia, Maryland
Worship Every Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

Session Decision on Building Closure

The session of Christ Memorial Presbyterian Church met on the evening of Monday, February 15 via Zoom and discussed, among many matters, the eventual reopening of the church building.

After significant conversation and deliberation, the decision was made that the building would remain closed and that the session would monitor the pandemic situation on a monthly basis in the hope of reopening the building as soon as safely possible.  With the assistance of the Reopening Task Force, the session will regularly examine the metrics and recommendations of the local and state governments, the practice of other congregations, as well as the progress of the vaccination effort to determine when it is safe enough to resume in-person activities in the church building for those willing to do so.  We look forward to gathering together again as soon as possible, and we hope that can take place sometime soon.

In the meantime, we are committed to providing a full, virtual worship service at 10:30 every Sunday morning in perpetuity thanks to the new AV system that was recently installed in the sanctuary.  This will allow us to continue to offer a virtual worship service even once we have resumed in-person worship.  Since it is likely, even once it is safe enough to open the building, that certain restrictions will remain in place (masks, social distancing, no singing, etc.) it is likely we will begin by offering an in-person worship service (that will look and sound very different from our pre-pandemic service and our current virtual service) at a time other than 10:30 am on Sundays.  This way, those who are unable or unwilling to come to the building initially will still be able to participate in as full a service as is possible, virtually. 

In addition, the session voted to allow groups using the church grounds for outside activities to use the restrooms inside the building with special instructions to ensure safety.  For groups using the lower parking lot and/or the Brown Property, participants will be asked to enter the building using the south entrance (closest to Pastor Scott’s office) and utilizing the two restrooms across the hallway from the church office.  For groups using the upper parking lot, participants will be asked to enter the building using the doors closest to the kitchen and utilizing the restrooms across the hall from Fellowship Hall.  Only one person per restroom will be allowed in the building at a given time and a volunteer monitor will need to be employed to ensure all precautions are being followed.

As we near the one-year anniversary of the closure of the church building we join all of you in longing for a return to “normalcy” (whatever that may look like) and for glad reunion within the walls of the church we love.  We also thank you for your patience and support throughout these challenging times. We promise to take seriously the call placed on each and all of us by God and by you, our brothers and sisters in faith of CMPC, to seek God’s will in making the decisions we believe and trust are right for this congregation in this time.

As always, we welcome any questions or feedback you may have.