SHALOM’S COVID-19 SAFETY PROTOCOLS
                                                                                                      A/O 09/15/20
 

• Physical distancing is required for both inside and outside events. This involves maintaining 6-feet between individuals, family groups, or pods of established and regularly gathering people. This applies to adults and children.
• Face coverings (masks, not shields) are required inside and to be worn correctly to cover both mouth and nose. Face coverings may be removed briefly to receive Holy Communion, and by leaders and singers only when speaking or singing up-front. When leading, face shields will instead be worn, if possible.
• Face coverings, correctly worn, are required outside when singing and in crowded conditions where 6-foot physical distancing is not possible. Face coverings are to be worn by children age three (3) and up. Face coverings (masks or shields) are recommended during all outdoor events.
• Seating, spacing, and traffic flow inside the building is set up for physical distancing and must be followed.
• Frequent handwashing and sanitizing will be encouraged with stations made available.
• Singing and congregational responses will be limited during in-person worship.
• Please no handshakes, hugging, or other physical contact - air hugs only.
• Only one person at a time in restrooms unless assistance is needed.
• Attendees will not congregate inside before or after worship or other events.
• No coffee service or refreshments. Those requiring snacks due to medical conditions or for children may be brought from home and not shared with anyone else.
• Self-serve Holy Communion packets will be provided. Wine and juice, as well as gluten free options will be available. Communion will be shared while remaining seated.
• Those not feeling well or who are particularly vulnerable, should not attend any event in-person.
• Touch point cleaning will be enhanced, and all nonessential items will be removed from pews and common areas.
• Everyone will be asked to register and answer the screening questions below, prior to or upon entry into the church facility.
• Preregistration, including answering the screening questions below, is required for all inside events. Only if capacity limits are not met through preregistration, will those not registered be allowed to enter.
• Pastors, staff, and key leaders will generally not all be present at the same time due to possible infection and isolation requirements which would limit our ability to continue to provide worship and other ministries.
• These protocols are subject to change at any time, as we seek to remain flexible and responsive to changing circumstances, directives from the State of Michigan, guidance from the Southeast Michigan Synod or our insurance provider, and the spiking of cases in our area or an outbreak of COVID-19 in our congregation.
• Lack of consistent adherence to these protocols could result in the closure of our facility or implementation of stricter limitations.

 
You will be asked to answer these screening questions, upon entering the Pinckney Campus-Shalom:

• Have you recently had cold or flu symptoms including fever, cough, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell, unusual fatigue, headache, muscle ache, or shortness of breath?
• Have you traveled to known COVID-19 hotspots or out of the state, within the past 10 days?
• Have you had exposure to anyone known to have COVID-19, or are you awaiting test results?
• Are you immunocompromised or do you have any other underlying health conditions that make you especially vulnerable?
• Do you understand that appropriate tracing protocols and notifications will be followed should you, or another person attending a Shalom event, be determined to have been COVID-19 positive while at Shalom?
• Do you understand that, while Shalom is making great effort to ensure the health and safety of all who visit any of our events, there is an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 in any public setting? By attending a Shalom event, do you agree that you understand these risks and will not hold Shalom liable for exposure to or contraction of COVID-19?

 
Protocol if/when a positive COVID-19 case is identified among those leading or participating at Calvary:

• Notify by email or phone call anyone in the facility with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19,
• Close the facility, as needed, for a thorough cleaning of the areas impacted,
• Decide whether to have in-person worship or other activities the week following the identified infection,
• Encourage anyone who was onsite to self-monitor for the common symptoms of COVID-19 and to not return to the facility until they have met the CDC’s self-quarantine criteria and notify others around them of the potential exposure, and
• Understand that if someone is infected at Shalom, we may be required by the county or state health department to isolate or implement other protocols according to current health requirements.

In all things, as the people of God, the Body of Christ, at Calvary:

• We will be kind to one another, understanding that we are all struggling and have experienced significant losses, disruptions, and frustrations during this pandemic time, and we are in different places with respect to COVID-19.
• We will not allow this to be about politics, but about Jesus' command to love one another and to care for the most vulnerable ("the least of these brothers and sisters" - Matthew 25:40).
• We will pursue, above all, our mission better together – To Love God, Love others and Serve the world!
• We will follow the biblical model of looking out for other’s interests ahead of our own as found in Philippians 2:1-5 -- So then, as Christians, do you have any encouragement? Do you have any comfort from love? Do you have any spiritual relationships? Do you have any sympathy and compassion? Then fill me with joy by having the same attitude and the same love, living in harmony, and keeping one purpose in mind. Don’t act out of selfish ambition or be conceited. Instead, humbly think of others as being better than yourselves. Don’t be concerned only about your own interests, but also be concerned about the interests of others. Have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.