BUNDOORA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
COVID 19 FAQs
Updated 9 December 2020
Re-opening church
Before you come
How do I register to attend a Sunday service?
Each Sunday, a button to register for the following Sunday will be added to our livestream page (bpc.org.au/live). If you are serving on the coming Sunday, you will be sent a link to register in advance to ensure you can attend to serve.
If we have reached our number limits, the form will display a link to our wait list form instead (for further information see our FAQ Why is there a ‘wait list’?).
Please contact our office (email office@bpc.org.au or phone (03) 9017 9037) if you need any assistance with this process.
Why do I need to register?
The density quotient (1 person per 2 square metre with electronic record keeping, or 1 person per 4 square metre with manual record keeping) as well as coronavirus regulations sets limits on the number of people that is currently allowed within our building.
Registering for a service will help ensure we stay within these number limits and allow us to satisfy contact tracing requirements each time we gather.
Registering before you arrive each Sunday will also assist in a smooth flow of people into the building (the foyer will be set up differently) and allow us to keep you safe by minimising the number of people forming in the foyer as you enter the building.
Do I need to bring anything?
Please bring your bible/pen & notebook, children’s activities & pencils (for children staying in the service).
Children joining Little Sunday School and Sunday School (Prep to Grade 6) will require pencils/pencil case, a labelled drink bottle and a nut-free snack.
During the initial re-open of our Sunday services we encourage you to have tea or coffee in each other’s homes or at a café after the service as we won’t be recommencing morning tea and supper yet. However, if you require it, please feel welcome to bring a filled drink bottle or a small snack for yourself.
When should I arrive?
Please plan to arrive at least 15 minutes before the service begins to allow for a smooth flow of entry into the building (entering the building with social distancing will take additional time).
Families with children attending Little Sunday School/Sunday School should also plan to arrive before the morning service begins as Little Sunday School and Sunday School children begin each Sunday in the upstairs learning level (watching the livestream from beggining to the end of the kid's song) before moving into their Sunday School groups.
What if I feel unwell on the day?
We ask that anyone with symptoms stay at home and get a Covid-19 test where appropriate. You are able to email office@bpc.org.au if details of your registration changes.
(For further details see our FAQ Health Guidelines)
During the service
How will we be seated?
During indoor services, chairs will be situated 1.5m apart.
Ushers will be present to guide you and once seated we ask that you stay within your area where possible, making the most of engaging with those around you before or immediately after the service. We encourage you to relate to the people around you in a way that is “deep and not wide” - by speaking to a smaller group of people for longer rather than more people for a shorter period of time.
Is singing allowed?
There will be live singing from the front, and for the moment in line with advice, we request that you wear a mask when singing. Singing softly behind masks is the safest way at the moment for congregational singing.
(Instruction and information about singing during a service is evolving and we will update you as more information is available. The article Is it wise to sing Christmas Carols in church this year - 2/12/2020 may be of interest).
For children in Little Sunday School and Sunday School, instead of singing we will be encouraging children to bring a small labelled hand-held instrument so they can play along to songs during the service (eg. a maraca, shaker).
Do I need to wear a face mask?
On its website the Government says “It is strongly recommended that you wear a face mask at a religious gathering when you can’t maintain 1.5 metres distance from other people. You must carry a face mask with you at all times when you leave home, unless you have a lawful reason not to.”
We would also strongly recommend the wearing of a face mask, particularly in the foyer when it may be difficult to maintain social distancing. We also, in line with advice, request that you wear a mask when singing. Singing softly behind masks is the safest way at the moment for congregational singing.
Exceptions to this is where a person is engaged in activities where clear visibility of the mouth is essential to the service, or where a person has a lawful reason not to.
What about Lord's Supper in the church building?
During the Lord’s Supper pre-packaged communion parcels will be available for individuals to collect before each Sunday service. If you have dietary requirements, please bring your own bread and grape juice.
Will there be Sunday School?
We plan to run an amended program for Little Sunday School (kinder aged children who are toilet-trained and able to separate from parents for up to 90 minutes) and Sunday School (Prep to Grade 6) during Sunday morning services, except 27th December and the 3rd January.
A summary of upcoming Sunday School dates can be found here.
Children joining Little Sunday School and Sunday School should be dropped off at the upstairs learning level before the start of the morning service, where they will watch the first section of the livestream service with their peers, before moving into Sunday School groups after the kid’s song.
Please provide a labelled filled drink bottle, and a small nut-free snack for each child attending.
To assist us with distancing and a smoother flow throughout the building, we ask if 1 parent/guardian per family can be designated for dropping off/picking up children from Little Sunday School or Sunday School.
Why will children start Sunday School at the beginning of the service?
As density quotients apply to each enclosed space within the building we have decided that children in Little Sunday School and Sunday School will begin in the upstairs learning areas at the start of the service, so availability of seats can be freed up in other areas of the building.
The ability for parents to drop their children off before the start of the morning service will also allow for traffic and movement to occur before the service begins, thus maintaining the continuity of the livestream recording of each service.
What if my child doesn't feel comfortable attending Sunday School?
Children are welcome to stay in the service with you.
Will there be Sunday Youth?
Sunday Youth for our Year 7-8's won't be returning until 2021. Youth are encouraged to attend Sunday services and can still catch up with other youth in these services.
Will creche be available?
During the Sunday morning services we plan to run creche for 6 months up to children too young to attend Little Sunday School. We encourage families with children in creche to be seated in the hall (so creche leaders may reach a parent quickly if their child requires them).
A summary of upcoming creche availability can be found here.
Where can I change or feed my baby?
During this time, the cry room will be available for use of 6 people at a time (while maintaining 1.5m distancing between each household).
The disabled toilet also has changing facilities for babies. We will also reserve and partition the preschool play area, adjacent to the disabled toilet that contains a baby change table, as a temporary parents’ space as an overflow area for feeding young babies.
After the service
Will refreshments be served?
Initially we will not be serving our usual refreshments. We encourage you to bring a filled drink bottle or nut-free snacks if you or your family requires them.
While there has been some relaxation in relation to having food and drink at our meetings, with the hall currently full of chairs and while we need people to leave fairly quickly to allow the cleaning team to carry out Covid cleaning requirements, we will take January to think through and plan for the possibility of recommencing morning tea and supper in the new school year.
We again strongly encourage you to have tea or coffee in each other’s homes or a café together, to keep those good conversations going.
Are we able to stay and chat?
As we need people to leave fairly quickly to allow the cleaning team to carry out Covid cleaning requirements, we encourage you to make the most of conversations before or immediately after the service with those within your area, being mindful of ‘deep not wide’ - that is prioritising deep conversations with a few rather than conversing with many.
Once you have collected children from creche/Sunday School after the service, you will need to exit immediately, so we encourage you to consider inviting others to continue conversations over tea or coffee in each other’s homes, at a café or nearby park.
Can my kids play in the indoor playground?
During this time unfortunately the indoor slide is not available for use.
During the service, parents are able to supervise their younger children (up to the age of 3) in the gym until it is required for use as an overflow area for creche or Sunday School. After the service ends the gym will be unavailable for use as we will be needing to clean surfaces within that area as per our COVIDSafe plan.
We encourage families to make use of the good weather season and consider meeting with others for a catch-up/play at a nearby park after the service finishes.
Restarting with two services
What time are Sunday services?
Initially we will begin with two services - 10am and 5pm, while being committed to increasing the number of services as more feel comfortable in returning to meeting, and as the number of people serving in our cleaning/ushering/children’s ministry teams allow.
A summary of upcoming services can be viewed here.
What will our services look like?
Our services will be operated according to our COVIDSafe plan and will involve hand sanitiser stations, distance requirements, seating arranged, and no sharing of food and drink. If you bring children/youth to church it may be helpful to talk with them about how church will be different, and what they can expect.
Information on registering and what our services will look like is available on our website page Register to attend a service (bpc.org.au)
Can I bring a visitor to church?
You are able to bring a visitor to church if you add their name and contact number to your registration (or if they register directly themselves which is preferred) and it would be great to see them.
As church is, however, currently quite different from our usual Bundy gathering, consider whether your visitor would be more comfortable being invited to view the livestream with you in the comfort of your home, and where regulations allow, arranging an after-service catch up with others from Bundy joining afterwards.
Which service should I choose?
Gathering in person is about encouraging each other, and so try to go to the service where the people you know are, to make that mutual encouragement easier.
If your regular service is full you are welcome to attend another service time. If you have older children or do not require Sunday School for your family, you might like to consider attending the 5pm service for a season until we can offer two morning services again.
Why is there a 'wait list' when we register for a service?
Due to density quotients and venue number limits we are only able to have a certain amount of people within our Sunday services at one given time.
When registrations for a Sunday service have reached our capacity, a ‘wait list form’ will be available for you to complete and we will contact you should a place become available for that given service. Anyone on the wait list for a given week will be given priority to register for the following Sunday’s service. The wait list will also give us guidance about when we might need to recommence a second morning service.
Can I serve when we resume services in the building?
We are looking for people willing and able to serve in the areas of ushering & registration, cleaning, and children/creche ministries. To indicate your interest in serving please sign up here.
Please note: As services and building requirements are now guided by the COVIDSafe plan, previous serving rosters before Covid will no longer be operational. We thank you for those who have been serving faithfully pre-Covid and encourage you to pray and think about whether you are able to join in one of the new areas of serving as mentioned above.
Will the livestream continue?
Yes, the 10am and 5pm services will continue to be livestreamed.
Will Zoom catch-ups continue?
We will review the after service Zoom catch-up over the next two weeks to see if it is useful and possible to continue it into the next year. We will not be able to run Zoom catch-ups on the 27th Dec and 3rd Jan when many staff are away (as we will not be able to get to an online meeting straight after the service).
Over the next two weeks we will be looking for those participating in the after service Zoom sessions to communicate with us about what they would like to see happening with the Zoom catch-ups.
There will be no more Sunday School Zoom catch-ups as Sunday School has resumed and teachers will be occupied after the services.
Where can I view/listen to past services?
The livestream service is available for viewing in the week after each Sunday via YouTube.
Past audio sermons, outlines and transcripts are available from our Sermon Series page.
A Covid normal Bundy
Can I go to church to drop off/pick up an item?
During this time we ask if you could please contact the BPC office (office@bpc.org.au or 9017 9037) before entering the BPC building. This is to ensure we do not exceed any building capacity limits, and so that we may inform you of the necessary contact tracing/cleaning requirements. Conditions of entry apply to all entry and use of the building.
Can I borrow from the church library?
We hope to re-open the library in the new year after the holiday period.
What's the latest advice about restarting church activities?
To view the latest advice from the Victorian Government about religion and ceremony restrictions please visit the following webpage:
https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/coronavirus-sector-guidance-other-services
When can Growth Groups meet face to face?
Face to face meetings of growth groups are subject to the same regulations that govern all indoor and outdoor meetings. Some growth groups have already met – whether that is outdoors in groups of up to 100, or indoors of up to 30 (dependent on government restrictions).
It is up to the leaders and the growth group members to decide how and when they want to meet face to face, and also whether they want to continue meeting online.
What about Playgroup, mainly music?
The leaders have been doing a great job in maintaining their ministries this year given constantly changing circumstances. Please contact these ministries for the most up-to-date information regarding their activities.
What about Kids Club?
Kids Club plans to be back meeting in person on Friday nights, from November 27. These meetings follow the same COVIDSafe requirements. For more details, contact our children’s ministry co-ordinator directly at kidsclub@bpc.org.au
What about Youth Group?
Youth group plans to be back meeting in person on Friday nights, from November 27. These meetings follow the same COVIDSafe requirements. For more details, contact our youth pastor directly at youth@bpc.org.au
Will Bundy have Christmas events this year?
Bundy will have Christmas events this year that will be different to previous years. To stay up to date with these events please go to www.bpc.org.au/christmas
Will GSF run this year?
Yes, GSF will be run online this January the 11th to 14th at 9:30am-11am. As this event takes preparation, we could not delay making the decision about its form while we waited on further government advice. GSF 2021 will be free and the format will include a combination of YouTube segments, craft and Zoom discussion groups.
For more information and to register please visit bpc.org.au/gsf
Is there a COVIDSafe plan for Bundy?
Yes, our meetings at Bundoora Presbyterian Church are guided by our COVIDSafe Plan.
How often does cleaning occur?
Cleaning occurs after each service, and any activity within the building.
How will everyone find out about these changes?
Information and updates during coronavirus are communicated to the congregation during Sunday services, emailed via our Bundy Weekly News email, placed on the website (Sunday services registration page, Coronavirus updates page, FAQs page), and communicated to ministry leaders to pass on to their teams.
If you are interested in receiving our Bundy Weekly News email please sign up via the Communicate form.
Who can I contact if I have other questions?
Should you have any other questions please contact us by emailing office@bpc.org.au or phone 9017 9037, and a pastor or one of our staff team will reply to you as soon as possible.
Health Guidelines
What are the Conditions of Entry?
For each person entering our building we ask that they agree to our conditions of entry.
What is our policy?
If you or your children are unwell, especially with flu like symptoms, you must not enter. Isolate yourself and get tested if you have not already done so.
If you are awaiting Covid test results, or are a close contact of a Covid 19 infected person, you must not enter until given the all clear by the Health Department.
What if my child only has mild symptoms?
If the child has even the mildest symptoms they should stay home.
When should I get my child tested?
If your child has any of the following symptoms listed below, even if mild, they should be tested and stay home until they receive their test results.
The symptoms are :
• fever
• chills or sweats
• cough
• sore throat
• shortness of breath
• runny nose
• loss of sense of smell or taste.
In certain circumstances headache, muscle soreness, stuffy nose, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea may also be considered symptoms.
Can they return as soon as they have a negative test result?
No. In addition to the negative test result they need to be symptom free before they come to church. We want to avoid transmitting other upper respiratory tract infections (URTI’s) as well.
What about other children? Can they come with a parent while the ill child stays at home?
Providing the other children are well and the sick child has not had a positive corona virus test, other children can come with a well parent to church. In the event of a positive test the family should follow DHSS guidelines regarding quarantine and isolation.
What about other children while an unwell child is awaiting test results?
The family should follow current DHSS advice. Our understanding is that currently well children do not need to isolate while another child is awaiting test results, and so they can come to church.
“Asymptomatic parents/carers are not required to self-isolate whilst their child is awaiting their swab results, unless they are a close contact of a confirmed case of coronavirus (COVID-19). “
Accessed 23/11/20
Do I need to stay away if I have a runny nose due to hay fever?
No, but you should be confident it is hay fever and not an infection.
Questions to ask are “Is it like my normal hayfever?”, “Do I have accompanying symptoms like itchy eyes?”, “Is it responding to my usual treatments?” If the answer to these questions is yes it increases your confidence that it is your usual hayfever.
But if it is different from usual, or accompanied by fever, or unusual symptoms like cough, or is not responding to your normal treatments, you should go and be tested and wait for results before returning to church.
What about other illnesses?
It is good to remember there are other infectious diseases and we do not want these to spread through church. We should follow the exclusion guidelines used by schools. For example, if your child has symptoms of gastro, you should exclude them from church until there has not been vomiting or a loose motion for 24 hours.
See the “Minimum period of exclusion from primary schools and children’s services for infectious diseases cases and contacts” at https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/public-health/infectious-diseases/school-exclusion/school-exclusion-table