Guidance for Places of Worship During Reopening (6/2/2020)

Guidance for Places of Worship During Reopening (6/2/2020) ● Consider offering worship attendees a COVID-19 symptom self-assessment checklist to rule out sickness. This could be done at home before they come to their place of worship. ● The faith leader should have a script that includes what is necessary in order to remain safe while at the house of worship. This should include guidelines for attendees to follow, such as physical distancing and mask wearing. ● Outdoor services should be strongly considered, if at all possible. ● Wearing a mask in addition to maintaining a 6-foot distance at all times is the only way to protect yourself in a group, particularly if you’re indoors. No one should enter a service without a mask on unless they have a medical condition that impacts their ability to breathe freely. ● Each seat should be marked in some way that will let the person know where they should sit and that it is socially distanced, 6 feet from the next seat. ● Those responsible for the cleaning and disinfecting of places of worship should look carefully at the city’s guidance on cleaning to limit COVID-19 transmission. Creating a site-specific checklist of the most important high-touch surfaces is very important. ● Have sanitizer or sanitary wipes available for attendees upon arrival. ● 24-hour separation between services or activities (especially in a shared place of worship) is the most ideal scenario. ● We recommend avoiding all indoor choir or singing activities. If held outdoors, it is still important to wear masks, and continue to maintain 6-foot or greater separation at all times. Shouting or singing can produce aerosols that can remain airborne for up to three hours. ● Indoor funeraals should be limited to immediate family or no more than 10 people. Large indoor gatherings continue to pose significant risk to those in attendance. ● No direct contact between those attending services (such as hugging), unless the participants are from within one household. ● Smaller gatherings are always safer. The state guidance allows 40% of maximum capacity, but we recommend taking a greater precaution. As larger groups assemble, it becomes even harder to follow physical distancing and reduce the risk. ● Physical distancing should also be practiced inside vehicles by limiting riders and keeping windows open. Encourage walking or biking to service if this is a feasible option. ● Keep windows open during indoor services at all times if this is feasible. ● When entering or leaving the place of worship, please be respectful of distance and allow attendees to maintain a personal buffer (at least 6 feet). ● Congregants should bring their own cushions, if needed, and take them home after the service. ● Texts, program books, hymnals, religious books, and other documents should not be shared. ● If musicians are present, they should remain 6-feet apart, and no brass instruments should be played (as these would provide major projection of particles over long distances). ● Communion should be reconsidered unless it can be carried out with great caution to avoid touching of common surfaces or items. Communion services are not recommended. ● When the service ends, there should be an organized plan for dismissal, row by row filing out of the pews and straight out of the building. Attendees should not gather outside the building. 119 Windsor Street Cambridge, MA 02139 Phone: 617.665.3800 | Fax: 617.665.3888 www.cambridgepublichealth.org Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @CambHealth GUIDE FOR CHRISTIAN FUNERALS DURING COVID19 Issued 03/24/20 - Version 3.0 Introduction: For Christians, gathering to mourn the dead, celebrate their life, and proclaim the hope of Resurrection are essential practices of our faith. During the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID19 outbreak, our usual mourning rituals have been interrupted. We think of the women on that first Easter, who went to follow their familiar mourning ritual to anoint Jesus’s body, to find it disrupted. We remember their initial shock and confusion and feel this, too. We’re waiting to feel the hope of Resurrection. In times of trial like the death of a loved one, we turn to the familiar practices from our faith and ancestors. And so, we know that this disruption for a grieving community is doubly hard. We grieve this disruption with you. We also know that every Christian community gathers differently based on culture, custom, and tradition. These guidelines offer some basic principles. This guide comes from a broad ecumenical perspective, with a review from public health officials. We also know that no guide can perfectly account for every scenario. We trust you to make wise pastoral judgement that errs on the side of safety for vulnerable populations, especially elders and those who are immunocompromised. We will not risk more deaths in the celebration of life. These guidelines are hard, and necessary to limit the spread of the virus. Abide by them. We believe the good news of life in Christ Jesus can be proclaimed in every circumstance, even this one. During the COVID19 outbreak, on March 10, 2020 Massachusetts declared a State of Emergency. On March 23, Gov. Baker issued an emergency order closing nonessential businesses and limiting gatherings to no more than 10 people. The Centers for Disease Control has also recommended no gatherings larger than 10 people. We offer this guide to help pastors, chaplains and other Christian leaders make hard and necessary decisions to stop the spread of the virus. God forbid a funeral at your church become a source of more suffering and death. First, create a policy for your church that can be standard for the deaths in your congregation/parish and community through the outbreak. You’ve already made a thousand small decisions each and every day during this crisis. You need a policy to minimize more decisions (see page 4). Depending on your governance structure, solicit the engagement or affirmation of your deacons, vestry, governing board or elders. What we’re noticing through this pandemic is that folks are wearing themselves out from an overload of decisions. Set the policy now and abide by it. 1 Pastoral Concerns after a Death: 1. Begin funeral planning remotely. While our best and most familiar pastoral work often happens in person, this pandemic calls for us to physically distance to flatten the curve. This feels counter to everything we know as Christians, as Jesus draws close to those who suffer. Name explicitly these extraordinary circumstances, and how you would wish to be physically present, but out of care for their lives, you will be doing the funeral planning remotely. This is unbearably hard. Keep your pastoral care and planning to phone, email, and video. 2. Acknowledge the pain. the family and friends of the deceased may likely be upset by this death and as the awareness sets in, they may be doubly upset by the prospect of a funeral that is not as they imagined it. Acknowledge their pain, expectations and disappointment. When appropriate, share your church’s guidelines. 3. Appeal to external authorities. If there is resistance to the modified rituals and timeline, appeal to the external authorities of state and federal guidelines in addition to this guide and the policy from your church. Following the policy is an act of compassion and an affirmation of life for the living. We put these policies in place to keep other people alive. 4. Presume we’re all doing the best that we can. Be gracious with yourself and others. Operate with the presumption that everyone is doing the best that they can, and so extend extra grace. This is really, really hard. Folks are taxed emotionally and financially. As best you can, let as much as you can go. This is not business as usual, and so we're all going to have to be flexible. Invite the family into this flexibility, even in their grief. 5. Delaying some rituals. There’s a tree that grows in New England called a “Service Berry” folklore says, because it didn’t bloom until the ground had thawed enough till you could bury a body and have a service. In this place, we have always delayed some rituals. Cremation is one such way to delay some Christian practices for some communities. Another possibility is a family funeral or graveside service now, and possibly larger memorial service later. And, we may end up in a situation where the number and frequency of deaths exceeds pastoral capacity. You could say, “We can have a conversation after June 1 (or some later date) about when to have a later memorial service.” 6. Find ways to “stay connected in this time of uncertainty, to one another, and to the One who is our source and strength.” Gather the physical address of the immediate family members when you meet. Are there members of your congregations who can be drafted into service in card writing? Can there be a calendar of people who can call the family on designated days? A video conference call “wake” for a time of remembrances and storytelling? Can you print extra copies of a bulletin to send to family members who cannot gather in person? Can you post a copy of the program online? Can these tasks be delegated out to other members of the community as you do the work of caring for the grieving family in new and different ways? 7. Overcommunicate: In your newsletters to the congregation, in your homily at a graveside service, in the emails to the family, repeat and reiterate how hard and complicated this is. 2 Logistical Concerns for a Funeral during COVID19: 1. As always, be in regular contact with your local funeral home.

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