Safely Opening Churches Following
Quarantine
Pastor Bob Tousey, MBA, MACM
I have been silently observing the debate
about when and how it will be safe to open churches. I am now ready to share my
thoughts. Please read the entire blog as reading only a portion of it could
lead to a misunderstanding of what I am suggesting. I will first consider
whether services in a building are biblically mandated and then consider
whether current restrictions are appropriate.
Jesus and His disciples did not go to a
building every Sunday to worship and pray. Quite often Jesus prayed alone or
with a few friends. In Matthew 18:20 we are taught “for where two or three are
gathered in my name, I am there among them”. There is no biblical mandate for us to gather
each week in a building. We do that for fellowship and corporate worship which
are both very good things but not biblically mandated.
I recently heard an analogy and unfortunately,
I forget where so I cannot properly attribute it, but I think it is appropriate
to mention. The speaker pointed out that during the great flood, Noah did not
leave the ark to go swimming, instead he waited for God to tell him it was safe.
While God often protects us, He does not always do so when we are foolhardy and
irresponsible. We have heard stories of Pastors who insisted on conducting
services during the pandemic dying of Covid-19 shortly thereafter. We should
also be mindful of God’s instruction for us to care for our flock in 1 Peter 5:2-12.
We may have members of our congregation who are vulnerable to the virus and we
do not want to encourage them to engage in large group worship when they could
become sick.
With that being said, and this is why I said
to read the entire blog post, I question the arbitrary numbers that limit church
attendance. To me 10 is an artificially low number which bears no relationship
to the circumstances of the vast majority of churches. Many of our churches can
hold hundreds and some thousands of people. Is 10 safe and 11 unsafe in such a
large facility? Cathedrals and many mega churches can hold thousands of people.
Should they have the same limit as a small chapel?
I officiate funerals on a regular basis and
it pains me to have a limit of 10 including myself and the funeral staff. Many times,
with those limits, all members of the immediate family can not attend even
though the service is being conducted in a very large room that would allow for
a greater attendance with following social distancing guidelines.
Every church is different, and “a one size fits
all” approach cannot be used. In fact, I would argue that such an approach is arbitrary
and capricious because it does not consider the circumstances of each church. Both the percentage standard and the fix number standard can be arbitrary and capricious. While the percentage standard does consider the size of the church
neither of these standards (10 or a percentage) consider the lay out of the
individual churches nor the number or location of exits.
To properly determine attendance limitations,
the following must be considered (1) the size of the congregation, (2) the size
and layout of the building, and (3) the number of exits. Notice I say exits and
not entrances as to monitor the number of people allowed into the church
everyone should enter at the same location. I feel that entry and seating will
be easier to control and my biggest concern is dismissal because we have
everybody attempting to leave at the same time and this is why the number of
exits must be taken into consideration.
Once a determination has been made as to how
many people are allowed inside a church it is important for the church to
establish procedures designed to keep everyone attending safe as well a plan to
execute the procedures.
When establishing procedures, the church must
consider the amount of time between services to allow everyone to properly exit
the church prior to anyone entering for the next service as well as permitting time
to sufficiently conduct proper sanitation. Therefore, service times may need to be adjusted. The church should also consider not
having refreshments available as refreshments encourage people to congregate.
Sanitizer should be available before, during and after each service. The church
also must ensure that the church has proper procedures in place to follow
social distancing guidelines. Members, staff, and volunteers should wear masks
unless they are engaging in a speaking role.
Communion should also be provided in sealed
containers and electronic donations encouraged. When electronic donations are
not possible a box should be available to accept check and cash contributions.
Procedures should be established for processing the donations made by check or
cash. The use of gloves when processing is encouraged. This list is not
suggested to be all inclusive but simply a place to start.
Outdoor services following social distancing guidelines
should also be encouraged. Virtual services should also be continued for those
who are sick or uncomfortable attending in person church services.
