Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Re-opening the church and how

Church council members, please think about these considerations and related things we need to be prepared for in order to re-open the church for worship and other activities. We need to plan now, not react suddenly when the green light is given! 

Please leave a comment at the bottom of this post so that all may read and consider. Here is the "brainstorming" list - you may think of others. If so, please leave as a comment. 
  1. What if initially we are asked to limit gatherings in either or both of time and numbers - for example no more than 40 minutes and/or, say, 40 persons?
  2. In worship, should we continue with passing the plate for offerings? Should we change the way we serve and receive Communion? (I have already decided that for the next Communion, whenever it occurs, I will continue with the pre-packaged cups. Also, no matter the date when we re-gather, that will be a Communion service.)
  3. Greenbrier: when shall choir resume? Right away or delayed?
  4. Will nurseries and Sunday Schools start right away or should we "phase in" these and other gatherings at the church? What about resuming persons or families using fellowship hall for personal gatherings such as anniversary celebrations and the like?
  5. What is our plan to thoroughly clean the church before resuming any activities there? If we phase re-opening, should we also phase the cleaning? What is our plan to maintain that cleaning, at least for a few weeks?
  6. Is there either a need for or a way to do "safe seating" for the first three or four weeks once we resume - meaning that households may sit with one another but different households need to sit apart? If so, how do we do that?
  7. Related: When I give the benediction, do we need the congregation to dismiss one pew row at a time, with intervals between household groups?
  8. Should we initially, at least, limit the length of the service even if no such guidance for that comes from above? We would have to delete elements of the service. If so, what? How long before resuming?
  9. When and how shall committees and ministry groups resume meeting?
  10. Do we need to do a budgeting assessment and possible revision after restarting?
  11. How do we continue to minister to persons who choose not to return right away because of health concerns? (That we will do so is not the question, the question is how.)
  12. Do we continue with online worship somehow? (Note: this will be extremely time consuming and if we decide to do live streaming on Sunday mornings, it will not be cheap, either. I think that in addition to hardware investment, we would need to add a paid staff position for all matters online.)
Anything else? As I said, please leave a comment! 

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