waypoint regathering plan › wp-content › uploads › 2020 › 05 › ...esther 4:14 in the fall...

R E G A T H E R I N G

P L A N

Our Phased Approach to Reigniting Corporate Ministry

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TABLE OF CONTENTS A Letter from Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Our Regathering Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Wellness Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Overview of Phases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Regathering Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Phase 1 Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Phase 2 Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Phase 3 Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Phase 4 Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

What ‘s Next? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3 4 5 7 8 9 11 13 15 17

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D E A R W A Y P O I N T , “…for a time such as this…” Esther 4:14 In the fall of 2018, our church rallied around the notion that God was doing something new in our midst and that He was calling us to embark on a new path that He laid before us “for a time such as this.” Emboldened by Esther’s destiny-defining challenge, we set our sights on a new vision to go “Beyond Us” with the gospel to our neighborhoods, our city, and our state. With each passing week, we heard story after story of how God was using Waypoint to bless teachers, students, missionaries, families in need, church planters, and rural churches all across Missouri. But none of us could have predicted that God was preparing Waypoint for another “time such as this”—the COVID-19 global pandemic. Despite being blindsided by the virus and having to completely rethink the way we minister to your family, we were anchored in the constant commitment, prayers, and generosity of every single one of you. You have shown us that a global pandemic can’t stop God’s Church from loving, serving, and restoring the brokenness of the world with the gospel of Jesus. So, we wanted to say thank you for remaining faithful with us every step of the way during this season. Being apart from one another is heartbreaking, and we couldn’t endure it without you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We are honored to be your leaders. — Your Waypoint Leadership

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O U R R E G A T H E R I N G P L A N We are as eager to regather the church for corporate ministry as you are! Before we do so, however, we feel a heavy responsibility to create a regathering plan that is clear, cautious, and consistent with the public health and safety recommendations of our local and national governing authorities. The following pages of this document will detail a regathering plan that includes:

• A Wellness Policy for the entire church • An overview of the different Phases of church operation • An initial Timeline for regathering the church that is tied to our phases • Details for worship service, ministry, and campus event norms during each

phase • A Plan for what to do if additional infection waves and shutdowns occur in

the future We believe each of these components is essential in creating a wholistic regathering plan that addresses the safety concerns of the present and accounts for any unforeseen circumstances in the future. A church-wide Wellness Policy sets some sickness and sanitization standards for on-campus gathering. Clear Phases allow us to distinguish between levels of operation at any time and clearly define expected changes in operation when moving between them. A Timeline helps our families plan their engagement with the church and its ministries accordingly. Phase Details give a more granular look into how each ministry will function during each Phase. Finally, a Plan for the future will allow us to smoothly revert to any prior Phase based on the needs of our community or the public health status of the city, county, or country.

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W E L L N E S S P O L I C Y For the foreseeable future, we are implementing the following campus procedures to help ensure a clean and sanitized environment for everyone on our campus, and we will update these procedures as needed based upon information released by federal, state, and local agencies until normal operating procedures are allowed. R E S T R I C T I N G A T T E N D A N C E B A S E D O N S Y M P T O M S If you or any of your family members display any of the following symptoms, we ask that you remain away from the church campus until the symptoms have subsided:

• Cough • Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing • Fever • Chills • Muscle pain • Sore throat • New loss of taste or smell

This list does not include all possible symptoms. Other less common symptoms have been reported, including gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. V U L N E R A B L E P O P U L A T I O N S We advise all members of vulnerable populations to remain away from the church campus until we reach a normal operation phase (Phase 4). Vulnerable population members include any individual at high risk for severe illness and complications from COVID-19, specifically adults over the age of 65 and people with pre-existing medical conditions. Such conditions include: chronic lung disease, moderate to severe asthma, diabetes, serious heart conditions, severe obesity, chronic kidney disease, liver disease or those who are immunocompromised from cancer treatments, transplants, or from taking medications that weaken the immune system, like corticosteroids.

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C L E A N I N G , D I S I N F E C T I N G , A N D S A N I T A T I O N Our Facilities Team will be making a thorough sweep of the campus to complete a detailed cleaning and disinfection of high-traffic areas and high-touch surfaces. High-traffic areas include kitchens and break areas. High-touch surfaces include tables, desks, countertops, doorknobs, light switches, handles, faucets, computers, phones, and other equipment or electronic devices. They will conduct routine disinfection schedules to clean surfaces using soap and water, followed by disinfection with an EPA-registered cleaner effective against SARs-CoV-2. S O C I A L D I S T A N C I N G P R A C T I C E S Social distancing (staying at least six feet apart) will remain a common practice as in-person attendance resumes and increases:

• Limit gatherings in a common area or meeting room at any one time to 10 people to enforce social distancing protocols. If this isn’t feasible, people should take steps to sit at least six feet apart from one another.

• Limit two people at one time in all high-traffic choke points such as elevators.

• Consider outdoor areas surrounding the campus as viable meeting spaces or break areas (e.g. using a patio as an informal meeting area or place to eat).

V I S I T O R S A N D V E N D O R S We will ask all business visitors and vendors to certify that they have not been exposed to any known cases of COVID-19. We will continue to consider alternate forms of communication such as phone calls and video conferencing to limit the number of visitors and vendors arriving in person. W O R K P L A C E S C R E E N I N G Waypoint Church will monitor the staff for COVID-19 symptoms and not allow symptomatic employees to return to work in person until they are cleared by a healthcare provider.

P H A S E S O V E R V I E W

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R E G A T H E R I N G T I M E L I N E Based on the Phases Overview above, our current timeline for Phase implementation is as follows: P H A S E 1

• March–May • Key Changes Include:

o Campus is completely closed to the public o All in-person ministry events are cancelled o Worship Services shift to online-only

P H A S E 2

• June • Key Changes Include:

o Max group size increased from 10 to 50 o Campus reopens under social distancing guidelines to Staff o Life Groups encouraged to gather in homes if deemed safe to do

so by individual Life Group leaders P H A S E 3

• July • Key Changes Include:

o One on-campus Worship Service at 10:45 AM in multiple venues with social distanced seating (Worship Center, the Realm, the Chapel, the Powerhouse)

o Children and Students will worship with families at 10:45 AM o On-campus groups can resume for Senior Adult Bible Studies

only P H A S E 4

• August • Key Changes Include:

o Normal Worship Service schedule o Normal WayKids and Waypoint Students schedule o Normal ministry and event schedule

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P H A S E 1 D E T A I L S S O C I A L D I S T A N C I N G

• The church campus is closed the public, so social distancing procedures on the campus do not apply yet.

M A S K S

• The church campus is closed to the public, so mask procedures on the campus do not apply yet.

W O R S H I P S E R V I C E S

• All on-campus Worship Services are cancelled. We are pre-recording and streaming one Worship Service online through our website and our chosen social media platforms.

• The team required to record and broadcast the online Worship Service will be limited in size based on the 10-person max per room guideline.

L I F E G R O U P S

• All on-campus and in-home Life Groups are cancelled. • Life Groups are encouraged to meet regularly through video

conferencing means like Zoom or FaceTime. W A Y K I D S

• All on-campus WayKids events and services are cancelled. • Communications and ministry content will be disseminated through

WayKids emails and social media. W A Y P O I N T S T U D E N T S

• All on-campus Waypoint Student events and services are cancelled. • Communications and ministry content will be disseminated through

Waypoint Students emails and social media.

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A D U L T C L A S S E S • If Adult Classes are scheduled, they will be streamed online based on

class leader and/or content availability. C A M P U S E V E N T S

• Due to the campus being closed to the public, all campus events are canceled.

O F F I C E H O U R S

• Due to the campus being closed to the public, normal office hours for Staff are suspended.

• Staff members working from home are available via email, phone, or video conferencing means.

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• The church campus is reopened to Staff under social distancing guidelines.

• The church campus is still closed to public groups larger than 50. • Social distancing guidelines are being enforced by the Staff for

employee, business vendor, and group gatherings. M A S K S

• Masks and mouth coverings are not required or enforced, but they are recommended for all persons gathering on the church campus.


• All on-campus Worship Services are cancelled. We are pre-recording and streaming one Worship Service online through our website and our chosen social media platforms.

• The team required to record and broadcast the online Worship Service will be limited in size based on the 50-person max per room guideline.

L I F E G R O U P S

• If deemed safe by the Life Group leader(s), in-home Life Group meetings are encouraged.

• If in-home Life Group meetings are still deemed unsafe by the leader(s), Life Groups are encouraged to meet regularly through video conferencing means like Zoom or FaceTime.

W A Y K I D S


WayKids emails and social media.

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W A Y P O I N T S T U D E N T S • All on-campus Waypoint Student events and services are cancelled. • Communications and ministry content will be disseminated through

Waypoint Students emails and social media. A D U L T C L A S S E S

• If Adult Classes are scheduled, they will be streamed online based on class leader and/or content availability.

C A M P U S E V E N T S

• All on-campus events require approval from the Pastoral Council. • Social distancing will be enforced by the Staff member in charge of

hosting the event. O F F I C E H O U R S

• On-campus meetings with Staff members are available via appointment.

• A staggered schedule of on-campus and remote workdays will be implemented for the Staff. To determine if/when a particular Staff member will be on-campus during office hours, please contact them directly through the Staff page on our website.


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• The church campus is reopened to the public under social distancing guidelines.

• Social distancing guidelines are being enforced by the Staff in the Worship Service and classroom environments, but are self-enforced in gathering spaces like the lobby, restrooms, and café.

M A S K S

• Masks and mouth coverings are not required or enforced, but they are recommended for all persons gathering on the church campus.


• We are hosting one on-campus Worship Service at 10:45 AM in multiple venues with social distanced seating in the Worship Center, the Realm, the Chapel, and the Powerhouse. Each venue will have reduced seating to align with the 25%-50% capacity recommendation from our governing authorities.

• The Worship Service will continue to stream online on our website and chosen social media platforms.

L I F E G R O U P S

• Life Groups are encouraged to resume in-home meetings. • On-campus Life Groups and Bible Studies are available for senior adults

only. With the restricted Worship Service schedule, we cannot accommodate all on-campus Life Groups and Bible Studies.

W A Y K I D S


WayKids emails and social media. • Children are required to remain with their parents while on campus.

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W A Y P O I N T S T U D E N T S • All on-campus Waypoint Students events and services are cancelled. • Communications and ministry content will be disseminated through

Waypoint Student emails and social media. • Students can attend the Worship Service with their families on Sunday.

A D U L T C L A S S E S

• If Adult Classes are scheduled, they will be streamed online based on class leader and/or content availability.


• All on-campus events are submitted and approved through the normal channels.

• Social distancing will be self-enforced by the event attenders. O F F I C E H O U R S

• On-campus meetings with Staff members can be scheduled during normal business hours.


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• The church campus is open to the public with no social distancing guideline enforcement.

M A S K S

• Masks and mouth coverings are optional for all persons gathering on the church campus.


• We are resuming our normal Worship Service schedule with two services on Sundays at full capacity.

• The Worship Services will continue to stream online on our website and chosen social media platforms.

L I F E G R O U P S

• Life Groups are meeting in homes. • On-campus Life Groups are available.

W A Y K I D S

• We are resuming our normal WayKids on-campus events and services. W A Y P O I N T S T U D E N T S

• We are resuming our normal Waypoint Students on-campus events and services.

• Midweek services are hosted on Wednesday evenings at the Realm.

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A D U L T C L A S S E S • Adult Classes are convening on the church campus as scheduled.


• All on-campus events are submitted and approved through the normal channels.

O F F I C E H O U R S

• On-campus meetings with Staff members can be scheduled during normal business hours.

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W H A T ’ S N E X T ? This plan, its phases, and its timeline are all predicated upon continuously improving circumstances surrounding COVID-19. If we experience a new wave of infections and sicknesses in the fall, we will adjust our current timeline and active Phase accordingly. Having clearly defined Phases helps us transition smoothly from one Phase to another. We will communicate any and all Phase transitions to the church immediately. For questions or concerns regarding our Regathering Plan, please contact our Executive Pastor at [email protected]. Until then, we’re going to stick to our current trajectory, continue to trust God’s sovereignty, continue to serve the needy, and minster to you and your family through these challenging times. We love you, Waypoint! We’re in this together.

waypoint regathering plan › wp-content › uploads › 2020 › 05 › ...esther 4:14 in the fall...

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