In Tuesday’s daily briefing, Gov. Tate Reeves issued guidelines for churches as congregations begin to hold in-house services again. Reeves in the guidelines said, “Mississippi is stronger because of our faith-based communities,” however he also said, “The freedom to worship should not be the freedom to transmit COVID-19 to your neighbor.”
While Reeves has not prohibitted in-person worship gatherings, he has strongly encouraged it.
"My family is likely going to continue worshiping from home for a while,” the governor said. “The church is not a building. We can honor our Lord and keep our neighbors safe. You don’t need to rush back."
In preparing the house of worship, some of the suggestions include:
- Invite medical and health care professionals to help develop best practices for the congregation;
- Sanitize shared resources after each use, and regularly sanitize all high-traffic/high-touch areas;
- Consider closing common areas outside the sanctuary to discourage gatherings;
- Limit unnecessary physical objects to reduce transmission.
For the actual service, Reeves recommend a phased approach to resuming in-person gatherings, holding a separate service for vulnerable adults; minimizing all physical contacts and limiting the size of attendance in the sanctuary.
Some other recommendations include each household in attendance maintain a 6- foot distance from other members; encourage members to stay home if they feel ill, consider using email or social media or other means of making announcements instead of having a bulletin, avoid passing the offering plate to decrease the spread of germs, encourage members to wear face masks, close down any coffee bar for the time being and consider a systematic means of dismissing.
Sunday School and other religious instructional classes are discouraged to start up yet, according to the governor. n
