Covid-19 Policy

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Our Response to Covid-19

At St John Baptist Church, your safety is our priority. We’ve developed the following policies with the safety of all staff, volunteers, congregation, and visitors in mind. Please refer to and follow the COVID protocols listed below whenever you are on our beautiful church campus or inside the building.

  • The church is sanitized on a regular basis, 6 days a week.
  • Social distancing, temperature checks, and masks are required.
  • Sanitizer stations are available throughout the building for your use.
  • Masks are available upon request at the Information Center outside the sanctuary entrance and the administrative sign-in desk.
  • Registration on Eventbrite is encouraged for all in-person worship services, on-site registration availability is limited, and the total number of attendees is not to exceed 150.

All church staff, volunteers, and interns who work on-site at SJBC must be vaccinated and submit to COVID testing every other week. COVID test results must be presented to the Facilities Manager. In the event of a positive COVID test, the staff, volunteer, and/or intern will notify the Operations Director and/or the Facilities Manager, follow the CDC quarantine guidelines, and produce a negative COVID test prior to returning to the building for any reason. All personnel must wear a mask when navigating the fellowship hall and/or learning lane.

All pastoral staff (Senior Pastor, Assistant Pastor, Youth Pastor), and the Minister of Music must submit to weekly COVID testing and provide the results to the Facilities Manager. In the event of a positive COVID test, the staff personnel will follow the CDC quarantine guidelines and produce a negative COVID test prior to returning to the building for any reason. All personnel must wear a mask when navigating the fellowship hall and/or learning lane.

We ask that all visitors and vendors stop at the administrative sign-in desk upon arrival to sign in, perform the temperature check, and wear a mask while in the building. Masks are available at the front desk upon request. Masks are available at the administrative sign-in desk upon request. All visitors/vendors must wear a mask when navigating the fellowship hall and/or learning lane.

All attendees are encouraged to register for in-person worship on Eventbrite.

On-site registration may be available as space allows. The maximum number of attendees for in-person worship is 150 at this time. All attendees must check in upon entering SJBC and submit to a temperature check. Masks must be worn at all times and properly placed over the nose and mouth while in the building.

Upon dismissal from in-person worship, all attendees must exit the building. No activities will be held in the building after in-person worship. The church administrative offices are restricted for use by the administrative staff; there should be no visitors or guests in this area at any time.

All requests for use of the sanctuary, classrooms, conference rooms, or the fellowship hall must be approved and scheduled in advance so that the rooms are properly sanitized prior to and after your meetings.

All attendees must be masked unless speaking. At no time should any group move to an unauthorized space in the facility. If there are any questions regarding reserving space here at SJBC, please contact the Facilities Manager.

After use, the facilities team will close the room and change the room indicator to “needs to be sanitized” so that it can be properly cleaned prior to the next use.

The Baptismal pool will be properly sanitized and water treated to ensure the safety of our Pastoral staff, Diaconate, and baptismal candidates. All candidates will remain masked unless otherwise instructed by the Diaconate. Candidates will remove their mask for disposal upon entry into the Baptismal pool. Immediately after immersion, a deacon will give the candidate a new mask to be worn upon exit out of the pool. The Pastoral staff and Diaconate will remain masked at all times.

Social distancing is enforced and all participants will remain masked during the Right Hand of Fellowship. Each candidate will be affirmed, presented to the congregation, and will then return to his/her seat.

All persons are asked to exit the building immediately at the end of worship service. Please wear your mask until you have exited the building.

If you have received a positive COVID test, we ask that you refrain from attending worship services and/or events at SJBC until such time that you have received a negative COVID test and have followed the CDC guidelines for quarantine. All church staff, volunteers, interns, pastoral, and worship staff who have a positive COVID test will notify the Operations Director and/or the Facilities Manager of the positive test results. Personnel who test positive will follow the CDC quarantine guidelines and produce a negative COVID test prior to returning to the building for any reason.

As a reminder, both the chapel and all classrooms in learning lane are sanitized 6 days a week and after each use. All participants in middle and high school worship are expected to wear a mask, properly placed over the nose and mouth, while in the worship space and in the building. If your child is experiencing any COVID-related symptoms, we ask that they not attend worship services or events during that time. If any child tests positive for COVID, then we also ask that you refrain from having them attend any worship services or events until such time that they have had a negative COVID test and complied with CDC quarantine guidelines. We ask that all parents or guardians pick up their children promptly after worship service following the designated pick-up process. Please adhere to the sign in process for both age groups as designated by the Youth Pastor.

For additional information regarding COVID prevention, please visit the Howard County Health Department’s website at COVID-19 | Howard County.

Any Other Questions?