Before You Open The Church Building

1. Any person who has had any contact with known COVID-19 confirmed cases or who has flu symptoms or fever should stay home and self-quarantine;

2. Invitations may be directed or limited to regular church attendees for in-person services;

3. If possible, attendees may be advised to perform temperature checks at home prior to attending the service, or temperature checks may be done at the door if the church has an appropriate temperature tester;

4. High-risk individuals based on age or predisposed health conditions should be advised not to attend the in-person service;

5. Prior to and following any in-person service, the facility should be sanitized;

6. Attendees may be advised that, if they choose, they may wear masks and/or gloves;

7. Attendees may be advised not to engage in hand shaking or other physical contact;

8. Hand sanitizer should be available for use throughout the facility, and each person may be given a squirt of sanitizer or a sanitizer wipe upon entering;

9. Pews and designated sitting areas may be marked to keep non-cohabitating congregants at least six feet apart before, during, and after the worship service;

10. Cohabitating family units may sit closer together, but otherwise social distancing should be used;

11. Selected points of entry and exit separated from each other may be used, establishing a one-way traffic pattern;

12. Doors should be propped open or held open by ushers to prevent the need for congregants to touch doors while entering and exiting the church or sanctuary, weather permitting;

13. The measures the church takes should be communicated to church members in advance;

14. Consider trash cans that do not require manually opening a door or lid;

15. Consider non-touch soap dispensers;

16. Urge people to thoroughly wash their hands and post appropriate signage in restrooms;

17. Disable drinking fountains or place signs nearby that the fountains are not in service;

18. Regarding communion, consider using pre-packaged containers set out on tables that people can pick up upon entry;

19. Regarding the sharing of religious items such as song books, take measures to reduce touching the same objects;

20. Regarding offerings, consider a stationary collection receptacle where people can deposit contributions without touching the container, and encourage online donation giving;

21. Instead of having the offering envelops on the back of the seats, consider having an usher wearing gloves give an envelope upon entry;

22. Regarding the choir, consider using recorded music or a reduced choir;

23. Attendees may be advised to wash their clothes following the service;

24. Regarding small children where social distancing would be difficult to maintain, churches may consider having the children always be with their parent(s) or guardian(s). If the church has a daycare, or something equivalent, the CDC guidelines for daycare and the state’s Department of Health should be followed. 

25. Consider creating a webpage that provides notice and guidance of the procedures and processes, and communicate on your social media, email, texting, and through mail.

26. Consider a registration page for attendees to preregister for services.