09/17/2020
Hey y'all, it's Jon. I want to take a minute to thank you for being patient with Church as we've waited so long to finally reopen to the public tonight, Thursday, September 17th. The decision wasn't easy, and we don't take it lightly. If that's all the info you need, we'll see you at the bar with your mask on. If you want the details, get comfy and read on...
Church has always worked hard to provide you with a safe space. Safety from judgement, safety from discrimination, and most of all the safety to express yourself in your most authentic form have guided us through countless difficult moments over the years, but we never imagined we'd be looking out for your safety by closing our door.
It's been painful. Really fu***ng painful. I sat on a barstool and cried that first Friday night we were closed, heartbroken that no one was filing through the door, ready to connect with each other and cultivate the magical energy that's blessed our little bar for all these years.
Here we are, almost exactly six months later. Every single one of us is a changed person from who we were back then, and Church has changed, too.
On your next visit, you'll see the changes we've made to redefine our safe space. We've got more outdoor areas to spread out. We will be strictly limiting our capacity, especially indoors. We will seat twelve people at three tables inside. Everyone else will be outside. We've built a plexiglass shield around the bar-top to keep you and our staff safe and separate drink preparation from the seating area.
Here's the important part: no one will be admitted to Church who isn't wearing a mask. If you choose to go out in public without one, we will happily direct you to another establishment.
Masks will be required at all times and without exception when indoors unless you're seated at your table. We also ask that you wear a mask whenever possible outside.
Even though our fancy dishwasher was always calibrated and regularly inspected to be safe, we will be switching to all plastic with lids and straws for cocktails. Please recycle your own used plastic when you finish with it. We will provide fruit garnishes by request.
We will regularly sanitize all surfaces, bathrooms, and seating areas, and will limit bathroom occupancy to one person at a time (you know who you are lol).
I'm sure I'm forgetting other protocols, so please be patient with us if we ask you to do something you don't see in this post.
We've created our systems as a team, and as a team we will revisit them after every shift to find ways to improve.
Church is committed to Athens, and we will do everything in our power to do the most good we can for the community by opening in the most responsible way we know how. If you have suggestions, we're all ears.
For now our hours will be Thurs/Fri/Sat open to the public from 5p-12a, and Mon/Tues/Wed private parties by request. Message me directly for details.
Last but not least I want to thank our staff for sticking with me through a strange time, and for their hard work getting the new Church ready to reopen. Also thanks to everyone who's ever been on staff. We wouldn't be here today without your contributions.
We've missed you, Athens, and we can't wait to see your smiling eyes.
❤️
