Safety Management Plan
Safe Transitioning to 100pax In-Person Worship Services
MCCY approved the resumption of worship services from Sunday 19 June. We have held weekly 50-pax worship services since 5 July.
As of early September, Zion Bishan was approved to conduct worship services for up to 100 persons, subject to a strict plan for safe management that was submitted to and approved by MCCY.
We plan to hold services for up to 100 persons from Sunday 4 October. This will allow our members to attend service in person more regularly, as well as provide more opportunities for fostering Church community (something very essential for our spiritual, emotional and mental vitality).
This document summarizes the modifications to the plan for expansion of Service capacity for the month of October and beyond, and the steps that will be taken. More details may be sought from the Pastoral team.
Key Aspects of the Plan
There will be 6 services run each Sunday. Services held in the main sanctuary are permitted to have a capacity of 100 worshippers divided into 2 groups: 50 in the lower sanctuary, and 50 in the upper sanctuary. These two groups may not inter-mingle – and so will have an assigned entry/exit to the Church premises as well as an assigned entry/exit into the Main Sanctuary:
Lower Sanctuary: Enter via back gate (facing the multi-storey carpark) – Temperature taking / SafeEntry outside the Sanctuary main entrance – enter Sanctuary via Main Entrance. Worshippers exit by the same entrances.
Upper Sanctuary: Enter via main gate of the church premises – Temperature taking / SafeEntry outside the stairwell closest to main gate – enter Sanctuary via stairwell to 2nd floor. Worshippers exit by the same entrances.
The services will be staggered by time (between 8.30am and 6.30pm) and space to prevent mingling of persons from different services. No other activities will be conducted on the church premises on Sunday.
Members and visitors have to register beforehand for the service they wish to attend, and for the level they wish to be seated at (Lower or Upper Sanctuary). Members should register only for a Service that is assigned to their Cluster.
First Sunday
1030am & 1pm Services: Joy / Light Clusters
3pm & 5pm Services: Faith / Patience Clusters
Second Sunday
1030am & 1pm Services: Hope / Peace Clusters
3pm & 5pm Services: Mercy / Grace Clusters
Third Sunday
1030am & 1pm Services: Faith / Patience Clusters
3pm & 5pm Services: Joy / Light Clusters
Fourth Sunday
1030am & 1pm Services: Mercy / Grace Clusters
3pm & 5pm Services: Hope / Peace Clusters
Fifth Sunday: There will only be one live-streamed worship service at 1030am.
(Service announcements, registration links and schedule can be found at https://www.zionbishan.org.sg/category/covid-19/phase-2/)
This means that each member may attend the worship service in person up to twice a month.
Temperature Taking and SafeEntry registration will be conducted, and everyone is to download and activate the TraceTogether App. Anyone with a temperature above 37.5 degrees Celsius will not be admitted.
Entrance, exit and movement in the church premises will be carefully marked, to ensure no mingling of persons from different services or sanctuary levels.
All persons present are to don a face mask and maintain safe distancing of at least 1 meter.
Each Service will last for an hour only, roughly following the sequence that we have been adopting for our live-streamed services. There will be no live singing or group prayer. Offering collection will be via digital means.
Holy Communion will be administered at the 1030am and 1pm Services, using pre-packaged Communion items (i.e. no sharing of items). Communion stewards will sanitize their hands and don gloves. Communion items will be kept separate so that worshippers handle only what they will consume.
After every service, the worship hall will be disinfected before the next service in the same location. As much as possible, the hall will be ventilated in between services.
There will be no fellowship tea. All worshippers will have to leave immediately after the Service.
