Gethsemane Lutheran Church – Virginia, MN

In the Sanctuary

We are currently worshiping in-person in our sanctuary. Please assess your own health and risk level when considering attending in-person worship indoors. Masking is optional and recommended for those who are not yet vaccinated against COVID-19. Be aware that we continue to observe social distancing and no-contact communion practices until our final COVID benchmarks are met (See our post on Updated Policies for details).

Here are the options for worshiping off-site:

Facebook Streaming

We live stream our worship on our Facebook page. Tune in on Sundays at 9:00 am to participate live with other members and friends. The video will remain on our Facebook page throughout the week.

TV – Channel 5 (Mediacom)

Our worship service is rebroadcast on local public access TV with added announcement, prayer, and song slides at these times:

• Mondays – 6:30 pm
• Tuesdays – 4:00 pm
• Wednesdays – 10:00 am
• Fridays – 7:00 pm
• Sundays – 8:00 am (one week behind)

Weekly on Thursdays at 6:30 pm, June – August

Weekday Evening Worship is here again! We will be worshiping outdoors on the church’s front patio, weather permitting. (Should it rain, we will find a place in the church for the service.) This is a shortened service of Holy Communion including a few songs, the scripture for the upcoming Sunday, and the sermon for the upcoming Sunday. Bring your lawn chair and join in on this casual time to worship together.

Summer Outdoor Worship on Sundays

3rd Sunday of each month at 9 am, June – August

Bring your lawn chairs and picnic blankets and join us out on the grass in front of the patio for our Sunday service. This will give those who are not yet comfortable being inside for worship the opportunity to be with family and friends and worship our Lord in community! Let’s praise God together, listen to the Word, and partake in the Holy Supper in the sun and shade!

Mark your calendars for the dates of our Outdoor Services:

• June 20
• July 18
• August 15

Our Council, at the recommendation of the SMART Team, has approved these new policies for stepping down from our current COVID precautions: 

Step 1: when state mask mandates are not in effect (this happens NOW)

Step 2: when the following county-level guidelines are met: (mostly likely would happen by fall, unless there is a local outbreak) *Guidelines in italics have been met as of 6/15/21*

• ~ Daily new cases per 100K are less than or equal to 10
• ~ Infection rate is less than or equal to 1
• ~ Positive test rate is less than or equal to 10%
• ~ Percent of eligible population vaccinated is at least 70%
  

Then… return to “normal” church procedures which include:

• – open all pews in sanctuary
• – serve communion at front with bread and cups of wine/grape juice (wearing gloves or with obvious and frequent hand sanitizer use)
• – resume indoor Coffee An’ and funeral luncheons
  

After step 2 is achieved, if the county-level statistics spike, we will move back to step 1. If the state reissues the mask mandate, we will reinstate all Yellow level precautions.

The Gethsemane Angel ministry is a way that we, as a congregation, are organizing ourselves in service to the Lord. We ask every person to volunteer to serve during one month of the year with a “Team of Angels” to provide all the help that is needed for worship services.     

Each month the Angel Coordinator contacts and schedules the Angels to help with ushering, reading scripture, setting up for Coffee An’, and other tasks as needed for worship and fellowship on Sunday mornings. (Angel Coordinators are no longer responsible for organizing funeral luncheons.)

WE NEED YOU!

We are looking for 2 more Angel Coordinators for the months of: August and October. If you care about worship and fellowship, please consider helping out! 

For questions, or if you would like to sign-up to be an Angel Coordinator, please call the church office at 218-741-4961.