developing guidelines for re-opening church buildings and ......develop re-opening policy &...

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.


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


MASKS Will you require masks to be worn?

What if someone arrives without a

mask?


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?


USHERS Will you use ushers to

dismiss people in order to

maintain social distancing?

Ushers can serve the role of

enforcing social distancing.


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.


AIRFLOW

Will there be constant airflow in

order to avoid a stagnation

of air?


GLOVES & HAND

SANITIZER

Will volunteers

where gloves and/or use

hand sanitizer?


DOORS How will doors be opened for people coming

to avoid contact issues?


BULLETINS Will bulletins be eliminated? Be emailed to print at home?

If distributed, how done to

avoid contamination?


On-Line Worship How will you continue

and maintain your on-line presence?


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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. ☛


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.


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.


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?



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?

Once you have developed your plan email a copy to [email protected]

http://tfpby.org

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