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Developing Guidelines for Re-Opening Church Buildingsand Resuming In-Person Worship
Presbytery of Tropical FloridaMay 2020
Develop Re-Opening Policy & Guidelines
• Session holds conversations about the time-table for re-opening the church building and resuming in-person worship.• Those conversations can be framed around a set of questions provided here.
• Session develops policy/guidelines for the congregation.• Session communicates that policy/guidelines with all members and
users of church property.• Session shares the time-table and policy/guidelines with the
Presbytery.
Asking Significant Questions…
Comprehensive Questions
Asking "in the balcony" big questions about re-opening.
Worship and Fellowship
Making decisions about how to resume in-person worship including details and particulars.
Building Use
Solving facilities and building use issues for church groups and outside users.
Comprehensive Questions
Do you have at risk people in
your congregation?
Are you okay with people
staying home?
How will you communicate
your decisions?
What if the pastor or
members test positive after
opening?
How will precautions be
maintained, loosened, or tightened?
Masks
Seating
Ushering Multiple Services
Airflow
Gloves & Sanitizer Doors
Bulletins
Online Worship
Worship and Fellowship
MASKS Will you require masks to be worn?
What if someone arrives without a
mask?
Worship and Fellowship
SEATINGWill you require
people to sit in every
other row (or 2 or 3
rows)?
Will you put tape on pews to indicate where
people may sit/not sit?
Will you put tape on floor
to indicate spacing?
Worship and Fellowship
USHERS Will you use ushers to
dismiss people in order to
maintain social distancing?
Ushers can serve the role of
enforcing social distancing.
Worship and Fellowship
MULTIPLE SERVICES
Will you hold multiple
services and assign people
to attend a service?
This limits the amount of
people present at one time and can be used by
smaller churches too.
Worship and Fellowship
AIRFLOW
Will there be constant airflow in
order to avoid a stagnation
of air?
Worship and Fellowship
GLOVES & HAND
SANITIZER
Will volunteers
where gloves and/or use
hand sanitizer?
Worship and Fellowship
DOORS How will doors be opened for people coming
to avoid contact issues?
Worship and Fellowship
BULLETINS Will bulletins be eliminated? Be emailed to print at home?
If distributed, how done to
avoid contamination?
Worship and Fellowship
On-Line Worship How will you continue
and maintain your on-line presence?
Worship and Fellowship
Worship and FellowshipDetails and Strategies
Lord’ Supper:• Vessels: Do not pass trays in the pews.• Coming Forward: Ushers invite people to come forward to maintain
social distancing.• Bread: Provide individual pieces of bread with tongs or while wearing
gloves so that only the servers touch the bread.• Cup: Use small plastic or glass communion cups.
Worship and FellowshipDetails and Strategies
Baptism:• Have parents hold the child and apply the water.• Pastor proclaims the Trinitarian formula as the parents apply the
water to the baptized.• Extended family and others are not invited forward to limit the
number of people at the font.
Worship and FellowshipDetails and Strategies
Choir:• Start with solos or household groups only.• Use trios or quartets that are at a social distance.• Keep all singers more than six feet from anyone else because of the
risk of projecting particulates while singing.
Worship and FellowshipDetails and Strategies
Passing of the Peace and/or “Meet and Greet”:• Is this essential to the worship if it increases the risk of exposure?• If included, what precautions will be taken and how will they be
enforced?• During Phase 1/Tier 1 of Reopening/Resuming “meet and greet”
should not be done.• Passing of the Peace can be done as a call and response between
pastor/liturgist and people without turning to one’s neighbor.• If gestures are included, they must not include touching another
person.
Worship and FellowshipDetails and Strategies
Greeters:• Greeters do NOT shake hands with anyone!• Greeters must maintain social distancing and wear masks.• If things are to be distributed (such as bulletins) the greeter should
not hold them but point to a table where they might be picked up.• Greeters should be models of social distancing behaviors.
Worship and FellowshipDetails and Strategies
Offering:• No passing of offering plates.• Offering plate could be at the exit.• Offerings could be individually danced down the aisle (while always
maintaining social distancing)• Continue and emphasize on-line giving.
Worship and FellowshipDetails and Strategies
Christian Education:• What are the risks associated with offering children’s church? Can you
assure families that children will be protected in a different space?• What are you plans for Sunday School? Will you use online materials
and distribute them in advance or after-the-fact?• Are you canceling VBS or delaying it until late in the summer?• For all CE programs, have you discontinued any snack or food service
that accompanies such programs? Children should not eat or drink apart from supervision of parent/guardian.
Worship and FellowshipDetails and Strategies
Fellowship :• If fellowship/coffee hour is included what precautions will be taken to
minimize risk and how will those be enforced?• If coffee or food is served it needs to be served – no self-service –
volunteers need to wear PPE.• If food is served, it needs to be individually wrapped and
commercially produced.• Tables and chairs must be spread out for social distancing. ☛
Worship and FellowshipDetails and Strategies
Fellowship (continued) :• Deliberate attention must be paid to sanitization of any tables, chairs,
or areas where food was served or consumed.• This must be done every single time!• OUTSIDE: It may be safer and more feasible to hold outside fellowship
events.
Building UseBuilding Use –FACILITIES & PROPERTY
SANITIZE AND STERILIZE: There must be a plan• Cleaning Teams are needed to sanitize rooms before and after every
event or worship.• Members of Cleaning Teams need to be “on duty” during worship
every event to sanitize doors, stair rails, restrooms…• Outside groups that use facilities must abide by “your rules” and
social distancing. Cleaning Teams will need to sanitize those spaces after each use.• Bathrooms require special attention. What rules will you put in place
for their use and sanitization?
Building UseBuilding Use
Facilities and Property - Volunteers:• What is your plan if volunteers step down?• Will you limit the number of activities based on the number of
available volunteers to staff things such as Cleaning Teams?• How will the availability of volunteers impact your Phased-In or Tiered
approach to reopening and resuming.
Building UseBuilding Use
Facilities and Property:• FINANCES: How are you attending to your financial realities?• ATTENDANCE: Record and maintain accurate attendance rolls for
every event and worship (for contact tracing).• INSURANCE: Attend to any notices or guidelines that your insurance
company has issued during COVID-19.
Building UseBuilding Use
Facilities and Property:• STAFF: Are there new paid and/or volunteer positions because of
COVID-19?• STAFF: What staffing needs have changed or will change as you add
more digital offerings to your church?• EQUIPMENT: What equipment do you need that you do not have?
Comprehensive Questions
Worship and Fellowship
Building Use
How will you communicate your plan for reopening and resuming to every
member of your church and every person who comes on the property?
Comprehensive Questions
Worship and Fellowship
Building Use
How will you communicate your plan for reopening and resuming to every
member of your church and every person who comes on the property?
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