Dear First Presbyterian Church Family:

We have finalized our plans for Palm Sunday and want to share them with you. There are two options to join us for worship this Sunday April, 5 at 10:30am:

  1. Stay-At-Home worship service: You can tune into the worship service from the comfort of your home by watching it on the internet livestream or by tuning in to KICS 1550 AM radio at 10:30am on Sunday morning. If you choose this option, we invite you to have bread of any sort, and some form of liquid on hand as we will be doing communion. We have permission from the Presbyterian Church (USA) to do “at home” communion via our broadcast service. Please don’t leave your house just to get bread and juice, any solid food and any liquid will do, even water, according to the guidelines issued by the denomination. In our tradition, communion is a sign and symbol of God’s grace, and that grace is present no matter what elements are used.
  2. Stay-In-Your-Car Palm Sunday Procession: If you have cabin fever and want to get out of the house, but also want to respect the Directed Health Measures issued by the Health Department and the social distancing regulations, we have designed a Palm Sunday Procession. Drive through the PEACE Center parking lot between 10:00am-10:20am to pick up a packet that will include: a map and driving instructions, a bulletin, a palm branch, and pre-packaged communion elements for everyone in your car. Then tune your radio to KICS 1550 AM and drive to the city parking lot on Hastings Avenue and 4th street and wait for the service to begin at 10:30am.

The car procession will stop at different locations around town as we pray for different people and populations impacted by the COVID-19 Coronavirus.

Click here for more detailed instructions about the “Stay-In-Your-Car” Palm Sunday Procession:

https://fpchastings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2020-Palm-Sunday-Mobile-Procession-2.pdf

It is going to be vital that everyone stay in their cars for the duration of this procession to respect the social distancing protocols issued by the health department. We even encourage you to keep your windows rolled up. If you have the need to use a restroom during the procession, we encourage you to drive home and continue to listen to the service over the radio. The church will not be unlocked, nor will there be places along the procession route to stop. We all need to work together to stop the spread of the disease and flatten the curve.

Your church staff has worked diligently to set up this opportunity for worship including creating the instructions and map (linked above), touching base with the Health Department, the Police Department, the City of Hastings, and the owners of the parking lots where we will be praying. We are grateful that we can “gather” in this way, but we must be extra careful and vigilant. I know we are all going to want to greet and hug one another, but we must stay in our cars. This only works if we honor the Directed Health Measures issued by the health department and maintain the social distancing protocols. We don’t want to become known as the church that contributed to the spread of the disease in our region, so please follow the guidelines strictly.

We can’t wait to worship with you on Sunday, whether that is over the internet livestream or radio while you “Stay-at-Home” or whether you join the “Stay-in-Your-Car” procession. It will be an authentic joy to celebrate Palm Sunday as a family of faith.

Your Servant in Christ,

Pastor Greg