Just a reminder: The Region follows the guidelines of the CDC and the Oklahoma Health Department. We strongly recommend that congregations remain worshiping on-line until new COVID-19 case numbers are declining consecutively for 14 days or there is some miracle.
When congregations choose to return to in-person worship, we strongly recommend that congregations develop clear protocols which include:
- How to Return to In-Person Worship: One-way entrance and exits, seating arrangements, sanitizing processes, no singing, no passing of the peace, alternative ways of taking the offering and communion.
- Best Practices for In-Person Worship: Hand washing, physical distancing, and wearing a mask.
- When Someone is Diagnosed: When someone reports to the minister they have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and attended worship, notify all those present at the in-person worship so everyone can self-quarantine for 14 days, AND return to on-line worship for at least two weeks or more.
Where Congregations Are Today:
Congregations are sharing that attendance on-line is consistently well attended, and for the most part, giving is consistent and up. Celebrate!
Our largest congregations, Edmond FCC, Norman FCC, and Tulsa Harvard Avenue, have medical advisory teams. These congregations are continuing to worship on-line and have not yet set a date to return to in-person worship. Edmond FCC is offering early worship in-person but only by reservation.
In counties where the virus is low, mostly in west and northwest Oklahoma, congregations are worshiping in-person.
Our middle to small-sized congregations are all in different stages. Some are experimenting with in-person worship with clear safety protocols, including wearing masks while also continuing on-line worship. Some have experimented with drive-up worship, and this form of worship went well until it got too hot. Congregations returning to in-person worship are discovering they have VERY LOW attendance because members are very cautious about being in a crowd, especially when worship is in the highest identified place of contamination.
Even with all protocols in place, Oklahoma has three congregations who have had to return to on-line worship after a COVID positive individual attended in-person worship.
Again, the Region strongly recommends that congregations remain worshiping on-line until the numbers are declining for a consecutive 14 days. If your congregation chooses to return to in-person worship, we hope and pray that out of love of God and neighbor, all safety protocols are practiced, including wearing a mask.
Thank you for standing strong and faithful up against this mighty force of a highly contagious virus.
