Your safety is our priority and we are working with an ongoing Risk Assessment to ensure that everyone who comes into our building feels safe and secure.

Please see the attached Risk Assessment in place here at Wimborne Elim Church

The guildelines from Elim HQ are as follows:

Summary

• There are no longer limits on the number of people you can meet. This means there are no restrictions on group sizes for attending communal worship.
• Legal requirements for social distancing no longer apply and you do not need to stay 2 metres apart from people you do not live with.
• There are no legal restrictions on the number of people that can attend a place of worship, including at significant life events, such as bar/bat mitzvahs, private baptisms, and naming ceremonies.
• You should wear face coverings in crowded and enclosed areas where you come into contact with people you don’t usually meet
• COVID-secure rules, including table service requirements and restrictions on singing and dancing, no longer apply. However, there are steps everyone should continue to consider to reduce the risk of transmission, which are explained in this guidance. Places of worship should follow the principles set out in the working safely guidance.
• There are no limits on the number of people who can sing indoors or outdoors. This includes indoor congregational and communal singing.
• The classification of places of worship includes buildings, land owned by the church and venues hired for the purpose of worship services.
• Weddings can take place.
• Funerals can take place.
• Baptisms The rules relating to full immersion baptism have recently been relaxed so that in England these can now take place subject to specific guidelines. In particular the advice is against ‘cradling’ the baptism candidate, and instead placing hands on their head to submerge them. As the Baptist Union notes in their guidance, if the person baptising the candidate is a member of their household the usual practice can be followed. This guidance also suggests other alternatives, such as affusion, where water is poured over the candidate. In Wales, unless the baptism is performed by a household member, self immersion is recommended. In Scotland baptisms are allowed to take place in accordance with the general places of worship guidelines. Baptisms should follow the guidance provided by each devolved government government.
• Activities for children and young people, within, alongside and separate to main worship services can take place provided they operate in accordance with the guidance on out of school settings.
• Updated: 3/12/21 In England, the UK Government moved to Step 4 of the Roadmap on 19 July 2021. This meant that from that date the Government removed most legal restrictions. However, this does not mean that we do not need to make adjustments or take coronavirus into account in all of our planning, especially with the emergence of the latest variant, the omicron variant. Our Covid Response Team has produced the ‘Guidelines for England’ document to give some early support to our churches in developing your plan for moving forward in ministry in your local context and setting. This has been produced not as a list of requirements, but, in line with the changes in England giving greater freedom for individuals and organisations to make decisions, as a practical aid to ensuring you are in the best place to move ahead.

We can assure you that we are staying up to date with the Government Guidelines at all times, in all that we do.

To view the guidelines, please click the link below: