COVID-19 OPERATIONS UPDATE
(6/27/21)

PHASE 3 REENTRY PLAN
It is with great pleasure that we present Phase III of our Church Reentry Plan. These guidelines were recommended by our COVID-19 Task Force and approved by the Church Council on Sunday, June 27, 2021. Please read these in detail so that you will be fully informed and aware of all that we should be doing.

Phase lll Church Reentry Guidelines:
1. Mask wearing will now be considered optional at Bunker Hill UMC. However, if you are not fully vaccinated, the CDC recommends that you wear a mask.

2. You are still asked to keep a social distance (3-6 feet) during worship and other indoor church events.

3. Congregational singing will now be permitted. However, if you are not fully vaccinated, the CDC recommends that you wear a mask while singing.

4. The music program will now be allowed to develop at the discretion of the Music Director. However, social distancing is to be followed and those who are not fully vaccinated are to wear a mask as per the CDC.

5. On-line registration for worship will no longer be required.

6. Regular offerings may now resume during our worship services.

7. Indoor funerals will now be permissible along with receiving lines and family meals. Social distancing, as much as possible, is encouraged. Those who are not fully vaccinated should wear a mask as per the CDC.

8. Indoor meals may now be prepared and served by persons who are masked and gloved. However, indoor buffet types of serving and indoor covered dish meals are not permitted. In other words, food is to be placed directly on plates by masked and gloved servers.

9. Church folks and outside groups may now use the church facilities. However, if you are not fully vaccinated, you should wear a mask as per the CDC.

10. The church bus and van may now be used at full capacity by all ages, but if you are not fully vaccinated, you are asked to wear a mask as per the CDC.


With all of the above guidelines, please continue to use common sense and self-monitor. If you are feeling sick, running a fever, experiencing a loss of smell or taste, have a runny nose, congestion, sore throat, a worsening cough, or if you have had COVID-19 in the last 21 days, or have been exposed to COVID-19 in the last 14 days, please wait until a later time to attend church events. Finally, the COVID-19 Task Force continues to advocate that the "love of neighbor" guide all our actions. This pandemic is not over. People are still getting sick and it is our Christian responsibility to do everything we reasonably can to prevent the spread of this illness. May God bless us all.

Church Reentry Benchmarks

Dear Church Family:
Despite the extreme challenges created by COVID-19, the ministries of our congregation have continued through your support and the Lord's blessings with enthusiasm, determination and faith.  It's hard to realize that our last indoor service was last March, but if any congregation has become competent (with humility) at online and outdoor worship, it's ours' here at Bunker Hill.  I hope that you have been actively taking full advantage of our resources, including our weekly 11:00 a.m. outdoor service with our transmission on FM 96.7.  We know from various reports that we are reaching a radius of nearly 2½ miles.  It's been wonderful to see folks sitting in the parking lot and their vehicles Sunday in and Sunday out as we've sought to give glory to the Lord.  What a powerful witness!
Please know that our overall goal is to resume indoor worship and other activities as soon as it is safe for all to do so.  In order to accomplish these goals, the Church Council on Sunday, February 7, adopted the following benchmarks to be met at the recommendation of our COVID-19 Task Force so that we might begin the process of reentry.  Quite naturally, continued mask wearing, social distancing, and the limiting of numbers will still be involved.  Here are the benchmarks: 
1.      The completed installation of Nu-Calgon iWave Commercial self-cleaning, bi-polar ionization purification generators in each of our heating and air conditioning units to destroy viruses, bacteria, molds, mildews, etc. Approximate cost $12,000-$15,000.
2.      When COVID-19 vaccines have been available for two months for those who are 55 and older.
3.      When the State COVID-19 positivity rate has remained at 5% or less for a month.
Although no plan can insure a 0% transmission rate at church for COVID-19, these steps are certainly a great move in the right direction.  By installing ionization purification systems, making vaccines available to a large segment of those who are at increased risk, and by meeting a reduced level of infection for a sustained period of time, reason should show that our risk factors will be much reduced.
Until these benchmarks are met, we will continue as we have been doing with online and outdoor worship and only limited use of the fellowship hall for meetings of 20 or less while following all of our safety guidelines.  i.e. Social distancing, mask wearing, no eating, etc.
For those of us who are in leadership, believe me, we know that this has been a very difficult time for our church family, our nation, and our world, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.  We "ARE" closer to the Promised Land than we were months ago.  We just can't give up now.  The Lord has always been with Bunker Hill and the Lord has great things ahead for us.  So, do not despair, but pray, pray, and pray some more!  May God bless us all.
 
David M. Rorie,
Pastor

Current Outdoor Worship Sundays at 11:00AM
Guidelines Below

After prayerful and thoughtful consideration following the recommendations of Bunker Hill United Methodist Church's own COVID-19 Task Force, the Church Council adopted a set of guidelines for the return of in-person worship.   You will find those guidelines on this page below.

These guidelines were adopted with a sincere concern for the health and well-being of our congregation and visitors.  While the guidelines are not perfect, but when properly followed, they are a step in the right direction, as we continue to deal with this pandemic that has now claimed more than 100,000 lives across our nation.

As Christians, we each have a moral obligation and responsibility to do what we can to love and protect our neighbor. Therefore, please read and study these guidelines in detail, and be prepared to follow  and support them if you choose to worship with us outdoors.

Guidelines for Re to In-Person Worship.
Guidelines 

To “phase” in worship at Bunker Hill on Sunday, June 21, in a thoughtful and careful manner, while constantly monitoring the continued development of COVID-19 in our area.

1. To resume worship with a single, outdoor, 9:00 a.m. service held on the eastern side of our fellowship hall parking lot.
2. To continue this outdoor service for an “unspecified” time until evidence shows that it is safe to reenter the building for corporate worship.
3. Worshipers are expected to wear a mask. (250 reusable masks have already been ordered, including 25 for children.) Specified persons will make masks available.
4. To specify a single entry point to the worship area and a single exit point from the worship area. To have ushers assist with this process.
5. To require all worshipers to bring their own chairs.
6. The playground will not be open during worship.
7. To require everyone to keep a safe social distance. The ushers will assist with the placement of individuals.
8. To allow use of the shelter for those who might wish to be out of the sun while keeping a safe social distance.
9. To allow the use of the fellowship hall bathrooms only, while providing alcohol-based spray for everyone to use when exiting the bathrooms. A monitor will be at the fellowship hall doors to let worshipers in and out of the building.
10. To do our best to keep the service to 50 minutes or less.
11. To refrain from hymn singing in order to lessen the likelihood of virus spread.
12. To provide collection buckets at entry and exit points for offerings to be made.
13. To keep a record of worship attendance in the event that a worshiper tests positive for COVID-19 and notifications need to be made.
14. To CONTINUE offering an online service for those who do not feel comfortable attending a group gathering, or for those who do not feel comfortable wearing a mask during worship, or for those who have “any” of the designated symptoms (see below) after doing a morning self-assessment.  
15. Worshipers should check their phones or computers for texts or email notifications of cancellation if the weather is rainy. Decisions for cancellation will be made by 8:00 a.m. each Sunday morning.

In addition to outdoor worship, the following items are to be observed.

1. Encourage groups to meet under the shelter with proper social distancing. Also, encourage such group members to wear masks.
2. Groups should call the church office to reserve the shelter for use.
3. Provide a 70% or greater alcohol spray for use on tables after group gatherings in shelter.
4. Encourage groups to meet through online connections.
5. Continue not using the church building for funerals, group meetings, family reunions, weddings, showers, birthday parties, etc., until we feel it is once again safe to do so.
6. Funerals are to be limited to outdoor graveside services with proper social distancing, or funerals should be held at funeral homes where their safety regulations are followed.
7. No in-church family meals or receiving lines during this time.
8. Future memorial services may be held when we are back in the building.

Before Attending Worship, Ask Yourself: 
These are the questions that each worshiper should ask before choosing to attend worship:

1. Do you have a runny nose, nasal congestion, or sore throat?
2. Do you have a worsening cough?
3. Do you have new or worsening shortness of breath?
4. Do you have a general ill feeling (malaise)?
5. Do you have a recent loss of taste or smell?
6. Do you have a temperature lower than 100.1?

Consider Your Risk Factors
In addition, the following risk factors for severe COFID-19 for children and adults (>65 years) should be considered before deciding to attend worship.
Children

• Chronic pulmonary disease (including moderate to severe asthma).
• Cardiovascular disease.
• Immunosuppression (e.g., related to cancer, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hematopoietic cell or solid organ transplant high doses of glucocorticoids).

Adults/Age >65 Years

• Pre-existing pulmonary disease.
• Chronic kidney disease.
• Diabetes mellitus.
• History of hypertension.
• History of cardiovascular disease.
• Obesity (BMI≥30).
• Use of biologics (e.g., TNF inhibitors, interleukin inhibitors, and anti-B cell agents) (presumed).
• History of transplant or other immunosuppression (presumed).
• HIV, CD4 cell count <200 cells/microL or unknown CD4 count (presumed).​

1510 Bunker Hill-Sandy Ridge Road
Kernersville, North Carolina 27284
Phone: (336) 993-8132