GOFAMINT: Guidelines for Reopening and Returning to Church Building

THE GOSPEL FAITH MISSION INTERNATIONAL

(GOFAMINT)

COMPREHENSIVE GUIDELINES FOR REOPENING AND RETURNING TO CHURCH BUILDINGS

June 1st 2020

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A 3-man committee was appointed on Tuesday 26th MAY, 2020 during the teleconference meeting of the Think Tank Committee set up by the General Overseer on repositioning GOFAMINT for optimal performance post covid-19.

Members of the sub-committee on the guidelines for reopening the church are:
Pastor Peter Awodimila – Chairman
Pastor Tosin Oladapo – Secretary
Pastor (Dr). Richard Adesoji - Member

TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR)

To state how to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
To design a reopening strategy for our Assemblies.
To determine how Church services will be conducted.
To determine how Holy Communion will be administered.

The following information and instructions (and possibly more to follow) are to ensure that our churches are healthy and safe for our members, ministers and guests or new comers, post COVID-19 lockdown. This aims at preventing the spread of covid-19 and other infectious diseases in our churches. To achieve this, we must adhere strictly to recommended best international practices on infection prevention control.



INTRODUCTION
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE CORONA VIRUS OR COVID 19
The new coronavirus is a respiratory virus which spreads primarily through droplets generated when an infected person coughs or sneezes, or through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose. Symptoms of the disease are fever, sore throat, headaches, a new cough or a cough that gets worse, difficulty breathing, sudden loss of sense of smell without nasal congestion, with or without loss of taste, aching muscles, intense fatigue, severe loss of appetite and diarrhea. Symptoms can be mild or more severe like those associated with pneumonia.
People of all ages with underlying medical conditions, particularly if not well controlled, including:
People with chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma
People with serious heart conditions
People with are immunocompromised (weak immune system)
People with severe obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 40 or higher)
People with diabetes
People with chronic kidney disease
People with liver disease
People aged 65 and older. (The risk of death is highest for people aged 65 and older).
HOW COVID-19 SPREADS
The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person.
Between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet).
Through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks.
These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.
It is possible for someone without symptoms (i.e asymptomatic) to spread COVID-19 to others.

SECTION 1

HOW TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF COVID-19
There is currently no vaccine to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to this virus.

WASH YOUR HANDS OFTEN
Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after you have been in a public place, or after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Cover all surfaces of your hands and rub them together until they feel dry.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
OBSERVE SOCIAL DISTANCING.
Avoid close contact with people who are sick, even inside your home. If possible, maintain 6 feet between the person who is sick and other household members.
Put distance between yourself and other people outside of your home.
Remember that some people without symptoms may be able to spread virus.
Stay at least 6 feet (about 2 arms’ length) from other people.
Stay out of crowded places and avoid mass gatherings.
Keeping distance from others is especially important for people who are at higher risk of getting very sick.
USE MASK THAT COVERS YOUR NOSE AND MOUTH:
 Cover your mouth and nose with a cloth face cover when around others
You could spread COVID-19 to others even if you do not feel sick.
Everyone should wear a cloth face cover when they have to go out in public, for example to the grocery store or to pick up other necessities.
Cloth face coverings should not be placed on young children under age 2, anyone who has trouble breathing, or is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance.
The cloth face cover is meant to protect other people in case you are infected.
Continue to keep about 6 feet between yourself and others. The cloth face cover is not a substitute for social distancing.
COVER COUGHS AND SNEEZES
Remember to always cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze or use the inside of your elbow.
Throw used tissues in the trash.
Immediately wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not readily available, clean your hands with a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
CLEAN AND DISINFECT
Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, regularly. This includes tables, doorknobs, light switches, countertops, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets, and sinks.
If surfaces are dirty, clean them. Use detergent or soap and water prior to disinfection.
Then, use a household disinfectant.
MONITOR YOUR HEALTH
Be alert for symptoms. Watch for fever, cough, shortness of breath, or other symptoms of COVID-19. If you have any symptoms seek medical attention, immediately.
Especially important if you are running essential errands, going into the office or workplace, and in settings where it may be difficult to keep a physical distance of 6 feet.
Take your temperature if symptoms develop.
Don’t take your temperature within 30 minutes of exercising or after taking medications that could lower your temperature, like paracetamol or panadol.


SECTION 2
PRE-OPENING PREPARATIONS OF THE CHURCH
Clean and fumigate your entire church. Focus on where germs are more likely be transferred. Consider shampooing carpets, sanitizing pews, bathrooms, doorknobs, light switches, and microphones.
Use appropriate disinfectants as directed and allow for the proper dry times.
Produce and position conspicuously a sensitization banner that gives a brief information about the virus, how it spreads and how members can protect themselves. It is advisable that this (or at least the content) be produced by the National, and distributed to the churches for correctness and uniformity.
Before openings, provide special training for your workers, especially the ushers on procedures for operation before allowing everyone to return to the church.
Pay attention to the Sunday School classes and children’s Church, if you have separate facility for both. Consider removing and disposing every nonessential item from the room to limit surfaces for potential contamination and do a thorough cleaning in between uses.
Remove reserved Bibles, Sunday manuals, hymnals, pens, information cards, etc., that you circulate during services, please remove them and stop circulating any materials between members.
Pre-instruct members to avoid shaking hands and giving hugs. Post signs about not shaking hands and enforce non-contact greetings.
Place sitting marks in the church building or Sunday school classrooms to ensure social distancing. Use tapes, labels, remove chairs, use cones, etc. to indicate the distance needed.
Tell your congregation that anyone who is sick should notify the Pastor and stay at home. They should be advised to go to the hospital or seek medical attention immediately.
Tell your congregation you’ve prepared the Church for their arrival through flyers on the doors, email, and social media. Be sure to use the words “clean, safe, and mindful of health needs in preparation for re-opening experience” or something similar.

SERVICE TIMES AND LOCATION
Keep an online meeting option for those who are unable to attend your service in person. Many churches have seen a spike in engagement since their online presence has increased. Capitalize on it!
Offer multiple services to encourage a greater chance of social distancing. One way to ensure your services are evenly spread is to assign people for the particular service to attend.
No service should exceed 2 hours, this includes the time for Sunday school and the worship service. It is important to reduce service time to help with the timing of cleaning thoroughly before, between and after services. This will also reduce the time people spend together in the church.
Clean and disinfect between each service, if you have multiple services.
Limit midweek services to only one in the meantime. You could combine or alternate Bible Study and Prayer meetings. You could also augment with online services.
Limit workers to those who do not have preexisting conditions and those who are under 65 years old. Determine how many workers/volunteers, particularly ushers, you have available to assist.

SECTION 3
HOW TO CONDUCT SERVICES
Plan a Celebratory Re-opening or Comeback Service. Celebrate the return! Encourage praise, provide times of testimony, and a sermon that spurs people to embrace life changes God has revealed to them during the lockdown.
Allow members that are from the same household or family to sit together. There should be social distancing (Enough spaces) between families or individual that are from different houses.
Avoid handing out handbills or bulletins. Instead read from the pulpit or project all announcements on screens.
Do not pass microphones to different people on the Altar. If you don’t have enough microphones, ensure that everyone that would uses the microphones sanitized their hands thoroughly before use.
Do not pass offering bowls. Have designated stations and bowls in the church where people can drop offerings.
E-payment of Tithes and offerings (through transfer to church accounts) should be encouraged. Where this is not possible, the Ushers should wash or sanitize their hands before and after counting.
Clean the pulpit and other common surfaces, after every use. Designate an Usher to do this.
Close the service and dismiss members in an orderly way to ensure there is social distancing as they exit the church premises. After service greetings and fellowships must be without physical contacts.
It is important that you keep your restrooms clean and well disinfected, at this time. You have to station a well kitted worker/ usher with appropriate Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to do this. Also, post appropriate signs about washing hands in the restrooms with appropriate guidelines on how to do so. Have the worker/usher ensure everyone that use the restroom wash their hands and that social distancing is followed. This is also one more reason to reduce your service time.
Provide a wash hand basin and appropriate liquid detergent at the entrance of the church for anyone coming into the Church to thoroughly wash and dry their hands before entering the building.
Position and display hand sanitizer at the entrance of the Church.
Every minister and member must wear masks covering their nose and mouth, at all times. Consider having new masks that could be giving to members and visitors, in case they don’t have one. The mask is not for decorations, and so shouldn’t just be dangled on the beards or jaw. It should cover nose and mouth.
It is advisable that each Assembly should have a temperature screening device to check for any member with fever before entering the church premises. Anyone with fever should be politely turned back and ask to join the service online, if livestreaming is available.
Ensure that every door and windows in the Church is wide open throughout the during of the service. This is to ensure that different people are not touching the door or window knobs and also for cross ventilation.
Churches with Airconditioning should consider not using them, in the meantime. They are advised to open their windows and doors as transmission of airborne infections could be accelerated in enclosed places since ventilation is compromised.
Discourage members from touching surfaces, walls and stair rails. Where there are stair rails, they should clean and disinfect, frequently.
In the meantime, vulnerable population groups, such as the aged and people with known or existing health conditions, should be discouraged from participating in in-person church services.
Keep record of names and addresses including phone numbers of church attendees, in the event that contact tracing is needed.

SUNDAY SCHOOL OPERATIONS
Your available space is a key determinant if you will be able to hold Sunday School classes as before. Social distancing must be ensured. Every teacher and student must have their mask on. If you don’t have enough space for social distancing, consider holding general classes in the meantime.
You can also explore the possibility of holding your Sunday School classes online via zoom, facebooklive…etc

CHILDREN CHURCH
Until further notice, allow children to be with their parents and let them sit together as a family, allowing enough space between them and the next family.

CHOIRS & PRAISE TEAMS.
It is advisable not use the full choir if you have large choir members. Consider rotations. If possible, assign microphones to each person and use the same one every time during the service. If not, clean and sanitize the microphone between each use. Choir members must also ensure social distancing during and after their ministrations.

AUDIO VISUAL UNIT (AVU) TEAMS
Clean microphones, headphones, computers, laptops, etc. after every use. Keep a record of when each item was cleaned. Do not use water. Use appropriate alcohol or alcohol-based disinfectants of cleaners.
Train your AVU team to provide online services via Facebook Live or YouTube, or other available social media platforms. It is advisable that this training be centralized online at various levels by the National Media Dept of the Church.


SECTION 4
HOLY COMMUNION ADMINISTRATION
For Holy Communion Administration, the following must be strictly observed:

Avoid passing cups, plates and bowls. The administering minister should thoroughly wash his hands. The hand washing of all officiating ministers should be demonstrated in front of the Congregation before administering it.
The minister administering the Holy communion must use mask that covers the mouth and nose.
The minister should give out the communion elements without touching the hands of the members.
The habit of ministers' clustering around the communion table to pray over exposed bread and wine has a tendency of 'baptizing' the sacred meal with showers of saliva, and this must be avoided at all cost.
Communicants may be encouraged and allowed to come to Church with their personal cups to be filled with wine from a jar during Communion service. It is advisable to allow members to bring their own communion elements from home.

CONCLUSIONS
If you have specific questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. There may be issues that are specific to your location, which may not apply to others. There is no rush to get back to the building, although we are looking forward to that. It is better to wait and put the necessary precautions in place for the safety of everyone.