The Lord is still on the Throne, Almighty God is He as the hymn writer penned, it was true when we sang it and even more comforting now! The Community Baptist Church of Lansing, MI has been following the government guidance for the safety of the church and the community at large. The services of the church have been changed to help mitigate the virus impact with social (physical) distancing and no public services. All the services have been live-streamed and will continue to be live-streamed for any of the congregation to view in the safety of their home. The returning to worship in church will begin Wednesday, May 13, 2020. This return will be phased in with one meeting in the auditorium. Future church services will offer opportunities.
The government both Federal and State, has now moved to follow an approach to open business, with hope to have a return to worship in the right time. The preparation for meeting together has been underway and the plan is to keep all safe, while following the Lord’s direction for our congregation. The plan for our church is based on counsel received from the following resources and counsel: 1. “COVID-19 Suggested Church Reopening Guidelines,” Christian Law Association, Dr. David Gibbs 2. “Guidelines for Opening Up America Again,” prepared by the White House and CDC, April 2020 3. Interim Guidance for Administrators and Leaders of Community and Faith-Based Organizations to Plan, Prepare, and Respond to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), https://www.cdc.gov/ coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/guidancecommunity-faith-organizations.html, April 2020 4. Attorney David Kallman, Great Lakes Salt and Light 5. Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company.
The following information will outline our plan in phases. Each state and each community will open at the appropriate time and may have to adjust times, scheduled events and even expected services based on the general health. It is important that our church return according to the direction with our eyes wide open knowing that God is in control, it takes time to mitigate a virus, there are different practices by other churches/ministries, and this is unprecedented. We all desire safety as instructed by government leaders (Romans 13), and we desire to obey the command of Scripture to assemble and worship (Hebrews 10:25). We believe church is essential! Let us work together to make this happen for the glory of God and with a right testimony to those who have not yet trusted Christ as Savior.
Note: This is still a work in progress and will change in the days and weeks to come.
Some precautions we may need to take. For future in person Church services:
Anyone with underlying health conditions should watch the services online in their homes.
Anyone who is a senior citizen should consider staying home and watch the services online in their homes until the CDC finds it feasible to come to group meetings.
• We may need to take the temperature of people who attend services and wear face masks when they enter the building. If someone has a fever or is ill, they will need to leave the building and watch the services at home online. If someone does not have a facemask, they will be provided one.
• Everyone is asked to use hand sanitizer upon entering the building.
• Nurseries and childcare ministry will not be meeting in the initial phases. When, the children’s ministries begin meeting, the church will comply with CDC guidelines.
• The church will disinfect high traffic areas, including restroom facilities between uses.
• All people should cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue.
• All attending church are encouraged to wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
• During the initial phases, the use of pew Bibles and hymnals will not be possible, and they will be removed from our chairs.
• There will be no passing of the offering plates, but instead there will be a collection box for tithes and offerings (three collection boxes are in the building: one in the fellowship hall, and two in the auditorium by the exit doors). Online giving is encouraged, and many are using that method with security and convenience.
• We will not distribute literature such as church bulletins and outlines however, the events will be online and projected on the screen in the church to keep the congregation better informed.
• When we administer the Lord’s Supper, there will be prefilled cups and wafers, each person can peel back the air-tight seal and eat the unleavened wafer. Then, they can peel back the second seal and drink the juice. The plastic cup is left in the cup holders in the chairs after the reading of the Scripture by Pastor.
• Church greeters at the doors, will not shake hands with members and visitors. Waving or bumping elbows should take the place of hand shaking for the foreseeable future.
• We will adjust seating configurations to allow for increased social distancing at 6 feet away from each other.
The church will remove chairs to maintain a minimum of 6 feet between worshipers who are not immediate family members.
We will ask people to fill seats from front to back, alternating sides to further maintain distance.
Dismissing row by row, from back to front, alternating sides, can help maintain distance.
We will encourage attendees to arrive earlier than normal to avoid a large rush of people into the sanctuary at the last minute.
We will for the first phase only want to hold worship services without additional classes or children’s ministry activities.
Families could be encouraged to sit together but maintain the recommended distance of six feet between families. In the early phases, to abide by CDC guidance, our church may need to have multiple services to enable proper social distancing or spread out over our different rooms in the building. Our Church will consider instituting a graduated process of capping attendance. We will start by allowing a certain level of occupancy and subsequently raise it by a percentage as CDC guidelines allow for further opening up. As the occupancy cap increases, the number of different rooms used may go down.
We will strive to work for the safety of the Membership and guests of the Church and the health of our community first. We will follow all recommend health guidelines to make each service special and safe as possible. There is no pressure to come and we look forward to seeing each person when they feel they can do so safely.
Your servants for Christ,
Pastor Jackson, Pastor Joe
Deacons-Jason Barclay, Dave Comstock, Jerry Ketchum
Clerk-Nick Schriber Sunday School Secretary-Doug Hartson
