Churches may find entryways, hallways, and bathrooms to present the greatest challenge for practicing social distancing when attempting to conduct on-campus services. Because church buildings come in all shapes and sizes, there will be no one-size-fits-all solution that works for every church.
Staff & Volunteers
- Staff & Volunteers should always wear a mask, practice social distancing, and have temperature checks. Staff & volunteers are the most susceptible to contact and spread of COVID-19.
Parking Lots
- Provide large signs that provide basic instructions. These instructions can welcome people back to campus and encourage social distancing practices as they walk up to the building.
- Consider blocking off parking spaces and utilizing parking lot volunteers to encourage social distancing before attendees enter the building.
Entrances
- Consider checking the temperature of attendees before they enter your church. If an attendee has a fever, ask them to watch at home or contact their physician.
- Make sure there is signage for guiding in and out of the church building.
- Greeters should be at all entry points to welcome, encourage social distancing, wearing masks and answer questions for attendees. Greeters should remain more than six feet from attendees and not shake hands or hug.
- Provide masks and hand sanitizer at each entrance. Greeters can give a pump or spray of sanitizer for each person upon entering and exiting the building.
- Consider using separate doorways and entrances and exits into building and worship space. Keeping attendees moving in the same direction limits reduce face to face interaction and maintain social distance.
- Disinfect doors, handles, railings, and anything that is touched frequently (before the service, during the service after most people have entered and after the service).
Hallways
- Churches with narrow hallways might consider designating certain hallways as one-way. Clear signage and frequent communication of these new routes would be needed.
- Churches with wide hallways might consider using dividers to reduce face to face interaction and maintain social distance.
- Block off usage of water fountains.
- Ensure safety supplies are readily available throughout your church, such as tissues, waste receptacles, and alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
- Disinfect doors, handles, railings and anything that is touched frequently (before the service, during the service after most people have entered, and after the service).
Bathrooms
- Limit the number of occupants in each bathroom. For many smaller restrooms, the answer will be one person or family at a time. Consider posting an usher at the entrance of each bathroom to help people know when it is occupied.
- Clean bathroom surfaces frequently. Churches will need to disinfect restrooms before, during, and after services, including cleaning toilets, to minimize any fecal-oral transmission.
- Provide disinfectant wipes for people to wipe down surfaces before and after use.