Church Office (816) 353-2184
Church Office Hours -
Monday - Friday  9:00 - 3:00
Summer - Closed at noon on Fridays

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May 18, 2020

We hope you are staying well and healthy. We look forward to worshipping together again very soon. In order to keep us all safe and healthy, the Bishops of Missouri have compiled liturgical guidelines that we are to adhere to. We will need to adhere to local jurisdiction as well. The following guidelines are as of May 18, 2020 and are subject to change as the situation progresses and we hear from local health officials. In the case that any of this changes, please continue to check our website at www.nativityofmary.org and you can find updates on our Church homepage as well as our Coronavirus Updates page under the Church tab. If you have limited access to the internet, you may call our office and our night ringer will be updated with the latest updates. Email communication is the quickest and fastest.
If you have not been receiving parish emails, please contact Sarah Gonterman to be added to our email list. Parish staff emails may be found below. We have been utilizing a new parish database called Gabriel Software since January. If your email is in the database, in the next few weeks, you will be receiving an invitation via email to join Gabriel through a member portal where you will be able to update your information as well as view your parish contributions. This will help us to continue to update our database as we prepare for an upcoming parish directory.

One important part of the guidelines in the next few pages that we would like to bring to your attention is the Sanitation Crew needed available after each Mass. If you would like to be a part of this crew, please contact Maria Milazzo as soon as possible. 

We would also like you to welcome a new employee on our staff - Sarah Gonterman! As many of you may know, Mary Jo Nafus, our parish secretary, is retiring this month and has served our community for years with love and support. We wish her well in her retirement and thank her for her years of ministry to our parish! Join us in welcoming Sarah Gonterman into this position.

While these guidelines are limiting our capacity for worship, they do not limit our need for authentic prayer! May we pray for an end to this pandemic and a renewal of our hope in the resurrection and our mission as members of the Catholic Church.

Pastor, Fr. Bob Stone - bstone@nativityofmary.org
Business Manager, Melissa Clancy - mclancy@nativityofmary.org
Director of Music & Liturgy, Maria Milazzo - mmilazzo@nativityofmary.org
Sacramental Prep, RCIA, Youth Ministry,
Becky Winbinger - beckywinbinger@nativityofmary.org
Secretary & Admin - Assistant, Sarah Gonterman - sgonterman@nativityofmary.org
Building Supervisor - Brandy Warren - bwarren@nativityofmary.org

Guidelines for Observing Social Distancing and other Health Requirements
for the Celebration of Mass at Nativity of Mary

In observance of City, County, and Diocesan guidelines under the direction of health officials, Nativity of Mary will enforce the following guidelines to keep all the faithful safe and healthy as we re-open Churches on a limited basis. Beginning with daily Mass on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 and the Sunday Mass the weekend of May 30 and 31, 2020 , Nativity of Mary will begin to offer Mass open to the public under the following guidelines:

Important notes
● Bishop Johnston has dispensed the faithful from the obligation to attend Mass on Sunday and from the Easter duty.
● Persons 60 and older or persons with pre-existing conditions are strongly encouraged , for their own health, to stay home. Those who are symptomatic or who have been exposed to another person with COVID-19 within 14 days are not permitted to enter the church.
● The Sunday Mass will continue to be posted on our Facebook and Website. They will no longer be livestreamed, but rather recorded and posted by Saturday evening, made available by Sunday at 8:00 am. Links to these recordings and worship aides will continue to be emailed to parishioners.
● If you or someone you know is sick or homebound and would like to receive communion (after the weekend of May 30/31), please contact the Ministry Center at 816.353.2184. We will have a limited amount of communion ministers who will be able to administer communion to the sick & homebound at this time. Please note that ministers will not be able to come into the home, but will be able to administer communion outside of the home - front porch, deck, etc. The communion minister will be wearing a mask and we kindly ask that the communicant do the same.

Regarding Capacity and Admittance
● We are limited to 25% capacity for each liturgy, meaning 100 people in total will be able to attend a service at one time.
● The faithful attending these Masses MUST register to attend prior to arriving at church. We will be using the online platform Eventbrite as our way of admitting a limited number of people into Church for each service. Each week, an Eventbrite event will be made for each Mass. The link will be emailed to parishioners in our database as well as posted on our website and Facebook page the Tuesday prior to the weekend. Parishioners can then click on the link and sign up for a “ticket” for Mass. *Please note that each person in your family will need a separate “ticket.”*
We will be able to see who has signed up for each Mass in order to check you off at the door.
● We understand many of our parishioners may have limited access to the internet. Beginning at 9:00 am on Tuesdays prior to each weekend, parishioners may call the Ministry Center at 816.353.2184 to be signed up for a particular Mass. Phones will be monitored from 9:00 am to Noon Tuesday through Friday beginning Tuesday, May 26th. The link will not be emailed until 9:00 am on Tuesday mornings so to give everyone a fair chance of signing up for Mass. If you have any questions or trouble with this please contact Maria Milazzo or Sarah Gonterman.
● Daily Mass will be offered Tuesday-Friday at 8:30 am (beginning Tuesday, May 26, 2020) and will be on a first come-first serve basis. We typically do not have large crowds for daily Mass, but if we were to reach our 100 person capacity, we will be unable to admit more people into the church. Communion services will continue to be offered on Monday. Please note that there will be no required pre-sign up for daily Mass. First come-first serve only. But attendees will need to sign in once he or she arrives at church.
● If a member of the faithful tests positive for COVID-19, he or she has an obligation to let the pastor know so that the parish can follow the contact-tracing procedure and communicate with all those who were in the church at that same service. Confidentiality of the person’s name will be kept, but this is important to keep all of our faith community safe and healthy.

Before Mass
● All attendees are asked to check their temperature at home before coming to church.
● The faithful are obliged to wear a mask upon entering and exiting the church and it is strongly suggested during the celebration of Mass as well. Children over the age of 2 are also required to wear masks per CDC guidelines. Masks may be pulled down for the brief moment of receiving Holy Communion and then must be put back on properly. Masks will not be provided for you. Please make sure to bring your own. We have many parishioners who have been sewing masks. Please contact Maria Milazzo to connect with one of these people.
● If wearing a mask the entirety of Mass is not possible for one due to claustrophobia, breathing problems, or other concerns, please make sure you only take it off when in the pew and 6 feet away from anyone else in the church. Please refrain from singing without a mask on.
● Ministers of Hospitality will kindly usher you to designated pews in the church once you arrive. Please note you may not be able to sit in the area that you usually sit in in church in order to maintain the 6 ft distance needed between households. We will stagger seating in every other pew.
● All hymnals will be removed from the pews and stored for the duration of the pandemic. We will be providing disposable worship aides for each liturgy.
● Before and after each Mass, we will have a designated sanitation crew to help wipe down pews, restroom facilities, door handles, push plates, knobs, and any other surfaces that may have been touched with disinfectant. We are in need of ministers for this crew. Please contact Maria Milazzo if you would like to help serve our community in this capacity. Sanitation crew members will be provided with disposable gloves and sanitation materials while cleaning.
● Doors will be propped open before and after Masses to prevent people from touching the doors.
● Hand sanitizer will be provided in various locations of the church but if you have your own, please bring it with you.
● Please refrain from greeting others with handshakes or embraces.

During Mass
● The Holy Water fonts will remain empty until further notice.
● Offertory baskets will be placed in the narthex of church for the faithful to leave parish contributions. Ministers of Hospitality will not be coming through the aisles for the offertory but will monitor these baskets before, during, and after Mass.
● The procession of gifts are suspended at this time. A server or sacristan will bring the gifts directly from the credence table to the altar.
● Every other pew in church will be marked off. Ministers of Hospitality will usher you to your seats once they mark you off at the door. This is all in order to maintain six-foot distancing between your family and other families or individuals throughout your time in Church.
● The sign of peace is optional. If it is offered, there is to be no physical contact. A simple gesture, such as a nod of the head, is recommended.
● When approaching the Communion minister, the communicant is to pull their mask below their chin in order to receive Communion. The communicant immediately replaces their mask after consuming the Host.
● Distribution of Holy Communion from the chalice is prohibited to the assembly at this time.
● During this time, Holy Communion will be distributed in the hand in keeping with the advice of state health officials and thereby to avoid the Communion minister’s fingers coming into contact with saliva or airborne contagion.
● Non-communicants, or those who do not plan on receiving Communion, we ask that you remain in your pew and wait for the blessing all receive at the end of Mass.
● The communion line will look a bit differently. There will only be one communion minister in addition to Father Bob and ministers of hospitality will assist in the process.
● Due to concerns that congregational singing requires increased volumes of projected air and particulates, congregational singing will be limited. The choir will not be leading music for a while, but we will have a cantor and pianist lead music at each Mass. Sung music will be limited, but singing is only allowed if congregants are wearing a mask.

After Mass
● We ask congregants to please either take the worship aide with them or discard them by the doors on the way out.
● Ministers of Hospitality will not be handing out bulletins or other materials. Bulletins will be available at the doors for people to take and bring home.
● There are to be no receptions or social gatherings (e.g., coffee and doughnuts) following Mass.
● Family units should depart the church in an organized manner wearing masks and observing 6-feet of distance between other households.
● Pews and other high traffic areas of the church will be wiped down before the next service by our sanitation crew.

Liturgical Ministers
● Ministers will begin to be scheduled via Ministry Scheduler Pro again; however, it will be on a weekly sign-up basis as opposed to being scheduled automatically as in the past. This link will be emailed out separately to ministers each week. If you sign up for a Mass as a minister, you do not have to sign up for a “free ticket” via Eventbrite . If you are coming with other family members, those family members will need to sign up for a “free ticket” via Eventbrite.
● If you are a Eucharistic Minister that is under the age of 60 and would feel comfortable bringing communion to the sick & homebound (in front of their home wearing a mask and following CDC guidelines), please contact Maria Milazzo.
● Maria has specific instructions for each ministry and is setting up Zoom meetings with each ministry to discuss these guidelines. Please see below for your ministry’s date/time meeting and a link will be sent prior to these dates to those ministers to join. Ministries with no set meeting time will be emailed brief instructions. We will be limiting the number of ministers for each Mass, so please look for more communication from Maria about that.
○ Ministers of Hospitality & Sanitation Crew - Wednesday, May 27th at 6:00 pm
○ Eucharistic Ministers - Wednesday, May 27th at 7:30 pm
○ Music Ministers - Thursday, May 28th at 6:30 pm



March 26, 2020

Nativity of Mary Parishioners,

At the direction of the Bishop:

As community transmission of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) has been declared in our area, public celebrations of the liturgy will cease. Various Parish Events and Celebrations have also been cancelled or postponed. Please see below:

• All Masses (daily & weekend) open to the public, meetings, and events (Parish & School) are cancelled through April 24, 2020.
   
• Please see our Church Home Page this weekend for a recording of Sunday Mass at www.nativityofmary.org/liturgy
   
• We will be live-streaming Holy Week Masses from our Parish Facebook page at facebook.com/nativityofmaryparish at the following times. You do not need to have a Facebook account to access these as they are made public. Recordings will also be made available on this page following the live-stream so they can be accessed at any time. 

• Eucharistic Adoration is also cancelled at this time, but please visit virtualadoration.home.blog for virtual Adoration!
   
• First Communion is currently scheduled for Sunday, April 26th at 1:00 pm. Please look for more communication regarding whether or not this celebration will be rescheduled.
   
• The Capital Campaign is being put on hold until the Fall. Please see the newsletter arriving soon in your mailboxes with more information.
   
• There will be no Office hours for now, but our staff members will be working from home. Please call the office at 816.353.2184 and leave a message and we will be checking these from home. This holds true for anyone seeking information, assistance, an anointing, etc. Email is also an efficient way of communication during these times.

• Offertory contributions may still be given online at www.nativityofmary.org. Find the Church tab and click on "Vanco - Donations/Tithes." Contributions may also be mailed to the Parish Office at 10017 E 36th Terrace, Independence, MO. 64052.
   
• See our webpage www.nativityofmary.org/coronavirus-update for personal and family prayer opportunities during this time at home.

We encourage everyone to please continue prayer, if not increase prayer, during these difficult times. Let's pray for each other and show signs of kindness and care. Show your love of the Body of Christ in your neighbors and friends who may need your help. God did not say to go to church, He said to BE the Church. Now is the time to limit social contact, but continue our prayer for all. Unite yourself with Christ and all those suffering.

Blessings,
Fr. Bob Stone, Pastor
Maria Milazzo, Director of Music & Liturgy

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