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05/05/2021: Returning to In-Person Worship

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Dear Larchmont Avenue Church,
We are thrilled to be able to gather together physically in our beautiful sanctuary once again as we welcome our new Pastor, Rev. Bynum! Our services will continue to be livestreamed via our website, Facebook, and YouTube, but here is an overview of what to expect if you are joining us for the in-person service.
The following are procedures we will use as we reopen the sanctuary for worship: out of an abundance of caution, for now we are limiting sanctuary occupancy in our sanctuary to 28 households (no more than 80 people). There will be some overflow seating available in Russell Hall with a screen to accommodate walk-ins–please register for worship!
We request that you attend only if you are healthy, are showing no signs or symptoms of illness, and have not had any known exposure to COVID-19 in the preceding two weeks. If you have any symptoms, please stay home and worship with us virtually.
As we are testing out a new registration system, we ask that you plan to arrive early in order to complete the wellness survey and temperature check at the Larchmont Avenue entrance. For entry into the church, everyone will use the main sanctuary doors by the elevator side on Larchmont Avenue. Ushers will be there to greet you, confirm your good health, and help you find a seat safely distanced from other congregants, filling the available pews from front to back.
You must wear a mask at all times during the service. You are encouraged to bring your own, though we will have a limited supply of adult-sized masks should you forget yours. You will be asked to use hand sanitizer before entering the sanctuary. There will be no child care, but children are welcome to sit with their families during worship.
For a time, worship will look and sound different:
  • Upon entering the sanctuary, you will be asked to check-in and then be shown where to sit. You will not be able to simply choose your “usual” pew. Families will be able to sit together. Children must stay with their families in the pews.
  • Pews will be marked off to maintain social distancing.
  • To increase air circulation, we will have the windows open. Air conditioning is not recommended in closed spaces pursuant to the latest Presbytery guidelines.
  • There will be no bibles or hymnals. These have been removed from the sanctuary.
  • Cards with QR codes will be placed in the hymnal racks. To access the digital bulletin or to make an online donation, simply open your smartphone’s camera over the QR code and follow the link to access the bulletin and LAC’s giving page via your smartphone’s web browser.
  • There will be no congregational singing of the hymns.
  • There will be no physical contact with those outside family groups, such as handshakes, elbow bumps, or hugs. We will not mingle before or after service but remain in our seats at all times with masks on.
  • Following worship, you will be asked to leave the sanctuary from the back-most aisle first, leaving from the Larchmont Avenue side of the church onto Forest Park Avenue, or directly onto Larchmont Avenue by the elevator, with everyone practicing social distancing.
Despite these restrictions, we will worship God together by joining in prayer, listening to scripture, and reflecting on the music and sermon. Session approved these procedures to help us find ways to ease the isolation of our days by returning to church while keeping our community safe.
We look forward to seeing you on Sunday, LAC!
With Grace and Peace,
Your LAC Worship Staff

03/24/2021: COVID-19 Update

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Dear LAC,
Spring is in the air! More and more folks within our community are receiving their COVID-19 vaccinations, and schools are preparing for fully in-person instruction. What does this mean for Larchmont Avenue Church? Are we ready to return to worshiping in-person?
The short answer: not yet. Our Elders on Session will continue to carefully discern and to prepare in order to make the transition from pre-recorded to livestreamed in-person services as smooth as possible. LAC’s worship will continue to be online throughout April.
While Sunday worship will remain virtual, LAC is testing out hybrid in-person/Zoom gatherings for both fellowship and ministry:
  • You may have noticed in your bulletin that our boards and committees are beginning to have hybrid meetings with some folks gathering in-person (socially-distanced and masked) in Russell Hall and others joining via Zoom.
  • For early risers, we will join with our church neighbors for an ecumenical sunrise service on Easter morning. Greet your friends and neighbors and celebrate the Risen Lord at 6:30 a.m. in Manor Park near Umbrella Point.
  • With schools resuming in-person instruction, our youth groups, TGIF and SHIFT, will return to hybrid Zoom/in-person meetings on April 11th.
  • LAC has continued to support Midnight Run throughout the pandemic, our youth will help pack and deliver supplies on April 17th.
  • On April 18th, LAC’s students will gather for an in-person Sunday School playdate at 12:30 p.m. at Chatsworth playground.

 

We are excited about some of the events that move us toward in-person worship. Although we are not resuming services in the Sanctuary at this time, we are shifting thoughtfully and carefully toward more in person opportunities, and we appreciate your support and participation in these efforts.
With Grace and Peace,
Your LAC Worship Committee

03/03/2021: Intergenerational Bible Study

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Dear LAC,
Thank you to all who participated in our first round of Stories from the Wilderness! Last Sunday, we read through some of Exodus and met Miriam and the Israelites as they begin their journey into the wilderness. This week we will meet Jephthah’s daughter in Judges 11:29-40!  If you missed our first session, you are more than welcome to join when you are able for our INTERGENERATIONAL journey of (re)discovering some of the lesser told stories from the wilderness found in our Bible. Inspired by SHIFT’s question “What is that doing in the Bible?” we will gather via Zoom (1:30 PM) to read, learn and discuss some of these difficult texts and take a deeper dive in the many wildernesses that we encounter not only in the bible, but perhaps also in our world today. Due to the violent nature of some of these texts we will be engaging with, we ask that any middle schoolers who will be attending MUST bring a parent.

9/30/20: October 2020 Worship Schedule at LAC

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Dear LAC Worshippers,
Session met Monday night and decided the schedule and method for our October worship services, Sundays at 10:00 a.m. Here it is: Communion Sunday will be pre-recorded and the other Sundays will be held in-person in the sanctuary.
Communion Sunday, October 4th – Video Worship broadcast on our website lacny.org and on FB Live.
  • Sunday, October 11th – In-Person Worship at LAC and livestreamed on our website lacny.org.
  • Sunday, October 18th – In-Person Worship at LAC and livestreamed on our website lacny.org.
  • Sunday, October 25th – In-Person Worship at LAC and livestreamed on our website lacny.org.
We were grateful to receive negative results from COVID-19 testing for our staff and have no COVID cases to report. The entire worship staff looks forward to welcoming you to worship in-person and online in the weeks ahead.
In-Person Safety Monitors and Ushers. In-person worship means we will need more volunteers who will come early to church to help with social distancing precautions, wellness survey, and ushering people to the reserved pews. Please click here to sign up [LINK]. Session has asked that Elders, Deacons, and Trustees be especially encouraged to help out. Thank you!

Thank you, Chrystal Chambers!

On behalf of the Session, Personnel Committee, Christian Education Committee, and Worship Team at LAC, I give my sincere thanks to our friend and faithful congregant Chrystal Chambers, who concludes her term as interim Director of Christian Education today.

 

Chrystal’s gracious presence, willingness to serve Christ and her church, and her generous can-do attitude have been invaluable assets to our Sunday School program over the past two years. Among her accomplishments were the launch of our Adult Education and speaker program, initiation of intergenerational book groups, encouragement of new co-ed and women’s Bible studies, and she even produced and directed our first ever Virtual Vacation Bible School this summer. (If you missed it, please enjoy this five-part summer series with your children here [LINK].)

 

Thank you, Chrystal. You will be missed from our staff meetings, but we are grateful to have you remain in our community as our friend and inspire us by your example as Christ’s disciple in all you do.
In God’s Love,
Ellen

LAC Wants to Stay Connected!

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Dear LAC Family,
LAC is finding its way to becoming a new church for a new day . Your worship staff members are regularly improving the ways to connect with you throughout the week.
Many of you have asked how you can be supportive and help in all this:
  • While we can no longer receive individual donations of canned goods, clothing, or hygiene items direct from households, you can order these items and have them shipped directly to our mission partner, the HOPE food pantry: 50 Washington Avenue, New Rochelle, (914)636-4010. This month HOPE is seeking donations of rice and tuna.
  • Please continue to support our congregation financially. Your giving will allow LAC to continue to pay our most vulnerable hourly workers in childcare and nursery school for the time being. You can contribute to LAC online here.
Your pastors, LAC Staff, deacons, elders, and trustees, walk alongside you in these disrupted days. If you would like to talk with a pastor, please contact me at eclemot@lacny.org .
Let us join our hearts together as we pray for all health care providers in these difficult days, and for our LAC community – together in Christ, we will persevere.
Faithfully yours,

Ellen Clark Clemot

COVID-19 Response

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Since March all Sunday worship, devotions,  sermons, sacred music and children’s worship resources, have been offered online. Here are some of the details that remain available through this time of concern about COVD-19.

  • On Wednesdays at 1pm Rev. Dr. Clemot offers a one hour Bible Study over FacebookLive.
  • On Sundays Worship continues to be broadcast on Facebook Live at 1oAM; however a small in-person worship service will be tested on September 20th. Participants must register in advance and comply with safety procedures.  Sermons are posted on Rev. Clemot’s website (www.ellenclarkclemot.com) and on the church’s YouTube channel accessible here.  Sermons are also uploaded onto the LAC website on Mondays.
  • Sunday School has begun, taught virtually until January 31, 2021 at the earliest.  LAC’s new Interim Director of Youth and Family Services Ekama Eni, will provide details in the coming days.  You can email her at eeni@lacny.org or call (914)834-1800 (ext. 306) for details.
  • Douglas Kostner, Director of the Music Ministry, is exploring the return of the LAC handbell choir!  This is a safe alternative to singing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Contact Douglas for more information. (914) 834-1800 x307  or  dkostner@lacny.org.
  • The Men’s Bible Study will next meet on Thursday, September 24, at 9:00 a.m. via Zoom. Any
    questions, please email Arthur Washington at ajwash@optonline.net.
  • Bible Study Fellowship: LAC is a host church for the Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) Westchester Women’s Day Group for the 2020-21 school year. The study this year is
    Beginnings: A Study of Genesis. BSF meets via zoom on Thursday mornings at 9:30 a.m. beginning September 17th. To register or for more information, go to bsfinternational.org or
    contact BSF/LAC liaison, Chrystal Chambers at chambers95@gmail.com.
  • Our pastoral care team is contacting congregants by phone and email.
  • If you are homebound, anxious, or seeking prayer, please contact Rev. Clemot at eclemot@lacny.org  or call (914) 714-2686.  We want to remain a pastoral presence in your lives and reassure you that your church continues to function together in Christ, even if we cannot meet together for a time. All of these plans were made from a place of precaution and not panic, and the intent of this communication is to share with you the decisions of our church leadership – we have made these decisions together, lay leaders and clergy, with the leading of the Holy Spirit in a time of uncertainty.  We want to be prudent and keep you safe, while not neglecting our neighbors in need.  We trust that we have found the right balance to accomplish these goals for the time being.

In times of uncertainty, it is important we stay connected, even if remotely.  I encourage those who have not been able to attend worship to listen to the Sunday sermon posted on our website.  The manuscript is available here.

I look forward to Bible study with you on Wednesday, and online worship this coming Sunday at 10am.  LAC’s Session and staff will be evaluating our small test of in-person worship next Sunday and will keep you informed of any developments in our meeting policy or our mission projects.  Until then, we continue to encourage members and friends to reach out to one another, paying special attention to those who might be most vulnerable to feelings of isolation and anxiety.

“…Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9b   

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Clemot, and the LAC Staff and Session