I am conscious that I would probably make quite dull company at a party at the moment (if such gatherings were possible)! For the last few weeks, a large part of my brain has been occupied by risk assessments and the practical implications of how we open up the church for the different uses in these changing times. Whilst at times it has been mind-boggling, it has also been a really helpful and empowering as a way to think through the issues, address people's concerns and work out practical solutions.  

There's a team of us who are working together to ensure we are balancing welcome, safety and well-being, in line with government and Church of England guidelines. We thought it would be helpful to share some of the things we are doing.

Risk Assessments:

We are writing and reviewing Risk Assessments for the different uses of the Church Building and Centre. These then become the basis for specific Guidelines which clarify the responsibilities of groups and individuals. We are also asking all the regular hirers to produce their own Risk Assessments too.

Cleaning:

Within the church building we have established three levels of cleaning, reflecting extent of use of the church, and different possible scenarios.  

Basic Clean - at the end of each day of weekday opening

•  includes cleaning door handles, relevant pews, the Welcome Table

Thorough Clean - after Sunday opening - to be done on Monday mornings

• includes cleaning door handles, all open pews, the font top, the back of pews at the rear of church, the Welcome Table & additional chairs that have been used.
• All includes a dusting and hoovering of the church.

Deep Clean - when information has been given that a visitor has displayed Covid-19 symptoms up to one week after entering the building

• Includes cleaning as for Thorough Clean but with added precautions such as wearing gloves and an apron, using detergent, double bagging all cloths.  
• It might also include closing the building for up to 72 hours.

Managing Social-Distancing:

We have established a number of systems within the church building (and used rather a lot of tape!). These include:

• Marking a preferred flow of movement through the church using floor arrows
• Closing off some pews, and marking a space in the Open Pews so that if more than one household is in the pew, they are able to maintain a distance from each other. 
• Changing how we serve Communion, so that people form a queue, receive the bread individually and then return to their seat. We won't be standing together at the front of church for the time being. 

Reducing the Opportunity for Items to be Multi-handled

We have reviewed all aspects of the services and looked at ways of reducing the risk of multiple people touching the same item. Steps we've taken include:

• Service Sheets will be placed on the pews by Stewards wearing gloves before the service begins.
• Providing Resource Drop Boxes so at the end of the service, people will be able to leave there service sheets and other re-useable items in them. These will then be left for at least 3 days, before being sorted.
• Activity Resources for kids will be provided in individual bags for parents to collect, and any resources that can be re-used will be safely cleaned and stored before the next service.
• Service Leaders and Preachers will use separate microphones. We are limiting the number of people who are involved up front to reduce the multiple use/handling of microphones.

Other Steps

• There are a wide range of others steps we are taking. For example:
• There will be instrumental music in Services, played by one of our pianists, but sadly no singing at present.
• We won't be serving refreshments in Services, as we do not have an established Cafe area in the church. For groups gathering in the church grounds, there are clear guidelines on how best to serve refreshments.

We will constantly monitor and review our practices, and aim to provide a welcoming & safe environment where people can meet with God and with one another. 

Many thanks to everyone who has helped make these steps possible. 

By Rev Sera Rumble

Curate St Denys.