By Ben Stapley, Christ Fellowship Miami
We worked hard to create a number of safe, spacious & sanitized protocols to reopen our onsite campuses the first weekend of October 2020 at Christ Fellowship Miami. Now that national and local infection rates are reducing and the vaccine is rolling out, we are looking to systematically reduce our protocols in waves. Our desire is to give our guests greeter freedom while still staying safe. Therefore, I’m sharing our past, current and future plans in case they help you develop plans at your church.
FIRST WAVE OF REDUCTIONS – NOVEMBER 2020
- Registration: Eliminated online registration.
- Baptisms: Started onsite baptisms administered by someone wearing a mask.
- Communion: Started celebrating communion with prepackaged elements.
- Next Steps Booth: Started connecting with guests after services at these booths.
- Handouts: Started providing physical invite cards.
- Membership Class: Started providing onsite membership class.
SECOND WAVE OF REDUCTIONS – SPRING 2021
- Seating: Open up the first three rows of seating.
- Dismissing: Dismiss guests all at once instead of row by row.
- Exiting: Allow guests to exit through regular exits.
THIRD WAVE OF REDUCTIONS – SUMMER 2021
- Ushering: Reduce seating in between guests from three to two seats.
- Temperature Checks: Stop checking guests’ temperatures as they enter the building.
- Signage: Remove social distancing floor markings and stanchions.
- Bathrooms: Open all stalls and urinals.
- Patio Seating: Open up patio seating.
FOURTH WAVE OF REDUCTIONS – HERD IMMUNITY
- Seating: Open up every row.
- Ushering: Allow guests to determine how much space they want between them and the next guests.
- Masks: No longer requiring guests to wear masks and remove PPE stations.
- Cleaning: No longer cleaning high touch surfaces in between services.
- Water Fountains: Turn back on.
- Offering Buckets: Start passing offering buckets out again.