Relaunching Church
As our jurisdictions (District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia) are sharing guidelines for opening businesses and faith communities in phases, this section will offer guidelines to help sessions start conversations as to what steps need to be taken, in phases, to gather in our church buildings.
Resuming Indoor Public Worship Panel Discussion – June 3, 2021 (recording)
FAQ on COVID and Church Building Use PC(USA) Legal Services June, 2021
Commissioned Ruling Elder Lisa Allgood is the Transitional Presbytery Leader for the Presbytery of Cincinnati. Prior to doing this work she was a professional immunocytochemist. She shared with folk in Boston the most recent available information on COVID-19 and what that means for church-related gatherings (link connects to YouTube video)
A second conversation with Commissioned Ruling Elder Lisa Allgood, a trained immunocytochemist, about COVID-19 and its impact. (August 12, 2020) (link connects to YouTube video)
Cleaning and Disinfecting (Plan, Prepare, and Respond) from CDC July 2020
Guidance for Child Care Programs that Remain Open (Supplemental Guidance) from CDC July 2020
RESUMING CARE-FILLED WORSHIP AND SACRAMENTAL LIFE DURING A PANDEMIC
THE ECUMENICAL CONSULTATION ON PROTOCOLS FOR WORSHIP, FELLOWSHIP, AND SACRAMENTS (June 2020)
Returning to Public Worship – Theological and Practical Considerations (PCUSA) May 2020
UUA Guidance On Gathering In-Person When COVID-19 Subsides – May 2020
Returning to Church – A guide from the Wisconsin Council of Churches has valuable suggestions, issues to consider — includes checklist
What Relaunching the Church Might Look Like Over the Next 3–12 Months
Live Streaming Proposal – This proposal outlines the hardware and software needed for live streaming. It also provides for a phased approach to developing a versatile, user-friendly system in a logical manner. Tech Grant Support Request
TOMAHAWK Microsite Services – The goal and objective in creating Microsite Services is to give small churches the ability to create and maintain an online presence that can easily be managed by congregational staff, and easily integrate live streaming.
Resources
Virtual Communion Liturgy – (from Shelli Latham and the Presbyterian Outlook)
Church Music and Covid-19 – A Response from the Presbyterian Association of Musicians May 21, 2020—Ascension of the Lord
Engaging in New Modes of Ministry – from Presbyterian Mission, Theology, Formation & Evangelism (August 2020)
Small Group Ministry Tutorial – In this video we provide a step by step tutorial on how to facilitate a small group sessions/discussion. General Presbyter John Molina-Moore walks through a 5 step process to facilitating small group discussions.
Small Group Devotionals (May 2020)
Rethinking VBS (available resources)
Building Faith’s Canceling Summer Programs Resource Roundup – this has a lot of helpful resources including a cancelation letter template.
Remote Ministry Resources from APCE which includes a list of questions to help guide the conversation about whether or not to have VBS this summer.