10 Considerations for Reopening Church: Returning to Worship Cannot Mean Returning to Normal

Rhonda Abbott Blevins, Pinnacle Associate

Masks purchased? Check. Hand sanitizing stations installed? Check. Pew pads removed? Check. Every other pew roped off? Check. Pre-packaged communion elements purchased? Check. Offering box installed in the Narthex? Check.

These are some of the adaptive changes church leaders are making in preparation for reopening day. While some churches were once planning a grand reopening with a (re)Easter theme, it is becoming clear that churches will reopen with a whimper as significant numbers of worshippers will not return until an effective vaccine for COVID-19 is widely available. Nor should they.

While government officials speak in terms of reopening an economy, church leaders consider reopening a sanctuary for large group gatherings. By now, most church leaders have read reports of churches at the center of coronavirus outbreaks, and no pastor wants fifteen minutes of fame by being the pastor of a church at the center of an outbreak.

As church leaders begin to consider reopening, it may be helpful for leadership teams to establish criteria—a set of markers for a phased reopening like the example in this simple chart below:

In this example, if Level 1 is marked by suspending all in-person gatherings, and Level 3 is a return to semi-normal, what would Level 2 look like for a responsible return to corporate worship before a vaccine is available to the public? Here are ten suggestions—some may apply to your situation and others may not:

1.     Continue holding worship services online in addition to in-person. Many churches have found a way to provide meaningful worship experiences to people at home. It will be important to continue this even when the church doors open again to worship as many at-risk individuals should not resume attendance at large group gatherings.

2.     Encourage at-risk population to participate online only. Church leaders can be a mouthpiece for health officials, educating people about risk factors and encouraging the most vulnerable to stay at home. Leaders may want to comfort those who fall into this category, assuring them that online opportunities will continue.

3.     Consider alternatives to passing bulletins, offering plates and communion trays. Establish online giving or text-to-give options. Place secure boxes in the narthex to collect offerings. Offer pre-packaged communion elements for pickup as people enter the sanctuary or invite worshippers to another space for communion after the close of worship. Place bulletins on a table or in a stand instead of having ushers hand them out.

4.     Find alternatives for handshaking, passing the peace, and communion. Be creative with this! Think about how sports teams have hand symbols, like the Baylor “Bear Claw” or the University of Florida “Gator Chomp” or the “Hook ‘em Horns” of the University of Texas at Austin. Your church can create your own unique greeting or adapt one that has some significant meaning for your people. As for communion, some churches are suspending communion, others are holding drive-thru communion, some are offering a private communion in a separate room, still other churches are buying pre-packaged communion elements and setting them on tables as people enter the sanctuary and encouraging worshippers to dispose of cups themselves.

5.     Establish a safe way (for some) to sing. Coronavirus may spread through aerosolization as well as through droplets. Singing can project both for over twenty feet. Consider requiring masks for all in attendance, especially those who sing. You may want to phase in singing, with only a soloist initially, then a duet, quartet, octet, then group singing.  

6.     Limit in-person gatherings. Consider canceling coffee hour. Can Sunday school classes, small groups and the fellowship luncheon wait a little longer to meet in person? Online gathering platforms like Zoom are especially effective for small group meetings. The fewer occasions for gathering, the less likely your church will become the center of a COVID outbreak.

7.     Establish social distancing protocol. Will you need multiple services in order to maintain safe social distancing? Consider roping off every other pew or placing painters’ tape on the pews where people are not to sit. Is there a way to create one-way ingress and egress in your aisles and limiting access to your building to doors that can remain open without touch? Can you put up signs asking people to avoid socializing?

8.     Remove all non-essential items from the sanctuary. You may want to remove pew pads, hymnals, and pew Bibles due to the difficulty of cleaning and disinfecting those items. Consider encouraging people to bring their own cushions and Bibles, and printing words to hymns and songs in the bulletin or projecting them on a screen.

9.     Provide masks and hand sanitizer. Require or encourage everyone gathered to wear masks (buy some to have handy for those who come without) and set up hand sanitizing stations at all entrances. Church leaders can model mask-wearing. Consider checking temperature of worshippers before they enter or asking them to check it themselves before coming to church. Encourage members with any symptoms to stay home.

10.  Establish and communicate enhanced cleaning and disinfecting procedures. People will want to know that the church is doing everything possible to create a safe environment for returning to worship. Your new cleaning protocol can be in print and widely disseminated within your church body. Place it on your website for the world to see. This new procedure should include a weekly disinfecting of pews, doors, and restrooms. You might even consider a disinfecting fogger to tackle aerosol contaminants. 

Finally, after all of that, rest in the Spirit. You have heard it said, “this is a marathon, not a sprint.” Lean on your faith, and trust that God will grant you the wisdom and discernment you need for such a time as this. Other churches and leaders will do their thing. If you have read this far into this article, you are a responsible and conscientious leader who cares about the health and wellbeing of your people. Lean into that. Trust that. And when you reopen your sanctuary for worship once again, do so knowing that Christ goes before you.

Helen Renew