Cabinet Guidelines for Responding to COVID-19
Phase One: Recommendations for In-Person Worship
As churches begin to consider how to slowly and safely return to in-person worship, it is imperative that a plan of action be established and shared with the staff and volunteers at your church. Below you will find a guideline video for churches to use as a resource for writing your plan of action.
Click here to download a PDF of the Recommendations for In-Person Worship
Following the April 27 announcement from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott regarding new executive orders on "Reopening Texas" in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Bishop Lowry released the following video with guidance to the local churches of the Central Texas Conference on how they are to respond. Bishop Lowry feels it is unwise for churches to return to in-person worship and in the best interest of all - especially the most vulnerable - that churches should stay the course with online worship only. However, consistent with all episcopal and Cabinet guidance during this crisis, Bishop Lowry will leave the decision on if and when to return to "in-person worship" with the local churches as long as they do so in consultation with their lay leadership and DS and follow ALL civil and medical orders and protocols.
Please view the video below to hear Bishop Lowry's full message.
Central Texas Conference Guidelines for Returning to In-Person Worship
Click here to download a PDF of the official guidelines
Any church choosing to reopen must take careful steps to maintain social distancing per Federal, State, County and/or other appropriate civil medical authorities. According the latest Attorney General Guidance for Houses of Worship During the COVID-19 Crisis, Houses of worship should conduct as many of their activities as possible remotely. Services that cannot be done remotely should be conducted in accordance with guidance from the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”). Houses of worship, like providers of other essential services, are to follow additional guidance from the White House and CDC whenever possible. A list of guidelines is below.
CTC Returning to In-Person Worship Guidelines
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Encourage all attendees who are 65 and above to stay home and watch the services online, or provide a “senior service” exclusively for attendees 65 and above to attend in person.
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Ask all attendees who have an underlying at-risk health condition to stay home and watch the services online.
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Equip ushers and greeters with gloves and masks and ensure they are used properly.
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Consider keeping childcare closed, unless the house of worship can comply with CDC guidelines for childcare facilities.
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Ensure all attendees sanitize their hands and put on a mask before entering the building.
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Ensure attendees sit with their family unit, use social distancing between each unit. Consider blocking off ever other pew row. If necessary, add more service times to facilitate distancing.
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Clergy should dismiss attendees by family unit, maintaining social distancing.
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Staff should sanitize seats, doorknobs and handles, bathrooms, water fountains and other frequently touched surfaces between services.
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Consider refraining from passing collection plates and instead provide a central collection box in the building or encourage online giving.
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Consider how the sacraments can be administered without attendees having to touch the same surfaces and objects.
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Instruct sick employees, volunteers, and guests to stay home;
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Practice social distancing by maintaining appropriate distance between people;
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Maintain good hygiene by washing your hands frequently, using hand sanitizer, using your elbow to cover coughs, and not touching your face;
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Implement environmental cleanliness and sanitization practices; and
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Clean and disinfect work areas frequently.
Have a written plan of action
To help ensure you are adequately prepared to safely reopen for in-person worship, please answer the following and use your answers as a checklist for developing your written plan.
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What will social distancing look like in your worship space? How will you ensure people are six feet apart and that there is no congregating? (i.e. no coffee pot where people gather, no greeting time, no handshakes or hugs, new ways of doing sacraments, etc.)
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How will you ensure good hygiene of your congregation? Where will hand sanitizer stations be? How will you encourage people to use their elbow to cover coughs, and not touching their face? Who will tell folks they must sanitize their hands and wear a mask before entering the building?
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Who will be responsible for environmental cleanliness and sanitization between services? How will you clean and disinfect areas? What products will you use? What schedule will you follow?
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Will you have your restrooms open? The Governor is recommending that we not have public restrooms at this time.
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How will you encourage all attendees who are 65 and above to stay at home? Who will be responsible for explaining, why they cannot attend a worship service when they show up? Will you provide a “senior service” exclusively for attendees 65 and above to attend in person?
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Who will be responsible for telling all attendees who have an underlying at-risk health condition to stay home and watch the services online?
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What accommodations will be made for ushers and greeters to use gloves and masks? Do not use printed bulletins which could would be handled by multiple people.
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How will you make sure everyone who enters the building has a mask on? Will you provide masks? Is there someone in your church who can make those? How will they be cleaned after use?
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What are you going to do about those who show up with children in need of childcare? Childcare should not be available, unless the house of worship can comply with CDC guidelines for child care facilities.
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How will it be communicated that attendees sit with their family unit, use social distancing between each unit? Will you need to add more service times to facilitate distancing.
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What plan will be used by the pastor to dismiss attendees by family unit, maintaining social distancing?
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How will offerings be collected and counted to ensure the safety of your counters? Currency is a carrier of the virus, you will need to have a centralized collection box, no passing the plate.
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What will be the plan for the sacraments? How can you administered them without attendees having to touch the same surfaces and objects?
Information about and reactions to the novel coronavirus COVID-19 continue to rapidly evolve with city, county, state and federal officials updating their regulations and orders seemingly every day. The Central Texas Conference Cabinet has compiled the following list of updated guidelines for how to best respond to the novel coronavirus COVID-19. A PDF of the Guidelines is available here.
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The Bishop and Cabinet will speak with one unified policy voice when communicating with the Conference.
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Bishop and Cabinet communications will be coordinated through the Conference Communications Office.
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There will be regular updates on the Conference website (ctcumc.org/ and distributed to/through the District offices.
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Information requiring immediate attention will also be emailed to clergy, lay leadership and church offices.
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In-person worship is to be suspended at this time.
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We STRONGLY encourage the implementation and use of online worship. Please inform your District Superintendent of changes in worship times/procedures.
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Follow all orders and mandates of civil authorities.
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Pre-school ministries shall follow the policy set by their local public schools as to whether or not to remain open.
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Graveside funerals with a small number of family members may be held. We encourage the scheduling of larger Memorial Services in honor and memory of a loved one to be scheduled after the resolution of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) crisis.
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We ask that only small family weddings be held at this time. We encourage the scheduling of larger wedding celebrations after the resolution of the COVID-19 crisis.
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The Communion elements are to be consecrated by the pastor and may, if civil mandates allow during the COVID-19 crisis, be distributed remotely with appropriate liturgy.
The celebration of Holy Communion during online worship has been approved under the following conditions:
- Every reasonable effort must be made to keep the sacrament holy and sacred;
- The elements may be consecrated online by an appropriate clergy person;
- The symbolic consecration of the elements online, if possible, should take place at the altar and with the use of bread and grape juice/wine.
This allowance for online communion is for the duration of the current coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis and is applicable only while regular, in-person worship is suspended.
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Additional information on online worship and giving may be found at ctcumc.org/coronavirus-covid-19-updates.
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Food distribution is to be done on a drive-by basis or delivered to a person’s home.
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Reach out, with appropriate public distancing, to help our neighbors in need remembering Matthew 25:40. “I assure you that when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.”
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Pastors and churches are urged to be in regular conversation with their District Superintendent!
“Don’t fear, because I am with you; don’t be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will surely help you; I will hold you with my righteous strong hand.” (Isaiah 42:10)