Guidelines for Worship During COVID-19

As we continue to live in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Our Savior Lutheran Church & Campus Ministry seeks to embody loving our neighbors while mitigating risk of increased infection. As such, we have developed the following guidelines for worship. OSLC Leadership will be using a 7-day moving average of the rate of positive tests as one of the external metrics to guide us in our decision making. This metric has been used by some municipalities to guide their decisions about reopening and reclosing schools and sectors of the economy, as well as recommended by the CDC. This takes into account not only the number of positive cases, but also the number of tests being performed to discover asymptomatic cases.

When the rate of positive tests in New Hampshire or Vermont reaches:

• 2%, OSLC Council is put on alert and will monitor the situation closely
• 3%, we will cease to worship indoors. Outdoor worship may be permitted
• 4%, we will cease to worship outdoors. Access to Eucharist may be permitted
• 5%, we will cease all in-person gatherings of any kind.

While the above metrics will guide OSLC Leadership, they are not the only metric that will be used. The specific locations of positive cases or other factors may lead to a decision that varies from the guidelines above.

At all gatherings of our Body of Christ, we will be following public health guidelines. These include, but are not limited to:

• Mandatory mask wearing
• Mandatory physical distancing of at least six feet
• Frequent hand washing or sanitizing
• Changes in our worship practices to mitigate risk (for example, no singing)
• Limiting the number of shared items, spaces, or surfaces
• Increasing ventilation, when possible

As the body of Christ, we prioritize caring for one another. This means that each individual must also use care and caution when deciding to participate in in-person activities, for the sake of the community. We must keep our Christian love central in all that we do. As such, we also maintain that decisions to participate remotely are valid, valued, and not seen as less than in-person participation.

May God lead and guide all that we do together.