MCEC Covid-19 Event Protocols

Prepared by the MCEC Health & Safety Committee
Approved by Executive Team 
Sep 14, 2021

Click here to download a PDF 

Guiding Values:

  1. We live in God’s world, in God’s provision and under God’s will. This helps us to remember and to focus our thinking through our appreciation of who we are as followers of Jesus that strive to imitate God in the way we live life particularly now in these pandemic challenges.[1]
  2. The complexity of the questions we face invites us to:
    • To act and speak in humility knowing that information we have today may change along the way inviting different choices.
    • To appreciate that different people may make different choices but we collectively have responsibility for each other in the choices we make.
    • To ask on a regular basis, “What is the loving thing to do” as a way to navigate different situations.[2]
    • To defer to the wisdom of public health authorities which have a mandate to protect us all navigating the science and peculiarities of human interactions within the pandemic.
  3. Community is the Centre of our life.[3] The efforts to replace being together through electronic means serves to highlight the importance of community for discerning the Spirit of God, living in forgiveness and being accountable to each other for the path ahead.
  4. While individual choices are made in light of communal concern, we value working towards reasonable accommodations that attempt to keep us moving together.

 

Protocols:

  1. Registration is limited by the capacity of the room. Where possible use the largest space possible with the best ventilation.  Participants are encouraged to attend to social distancing.
  2. Given the current Covid realities, registration for in-person attendees is limited to those who are fully vaccinated. Exception is given to those who cannot be vaccinated due to medical reasons or age restrictions currently in place.
  3. Sign in sheets are required for events that record:
    • Name and Contact information
    • Agreement of the attendee to 4 items:
      • They affirm that they are fully vaccinated.
      • They are aware of the self-screening measures (based on Ontario's guidelines for workers and volunteers: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/screening/worker/) and deem it is safe for them to attend.
      • They are aware of their assumption of increased risk in attending this event and that if food or beverages are offered there is even more risk associated. They are free to decline.
  4. Wearing a mask when moving about or in common areas when casually interacting with fellow participants is the preferred behavior. When seated socially distanced from others masks may be removed.
  5. Public Health and Local Venue guidelines and protocols take precedent in determining appropriate measures.
  6. Best Practice is to take a few minutes at the beginning of the event to convey the guiding values of MCEC in the pandemic asking that people use their best judgement and of course the situational ethic question “What is the loving thing to do?” as their guide.
  7. Please refer to the Health and Safety Plan Updates regarding specifics and parameters for other questions. Public health information is a further resource in determining particular questions.

 

 


[1] Ephesians 5:1 invites us to “imitate God” in our lives as believers.  While we cannot look in scripture to find illustration of how Jesus engaged a pandemic of his known world, we can see principles and priorities from his life to encourage us in our lives.

[2] Matthew 22:37-39 has Jesus summing up all of the directives of God in two commands.  The second of which states that we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  “What is the loving thing to do?” is by definition a situational ethic which may be answered differently by different believers given situations and challenges.  There is belief that there will be a similarity to choices though given other stated values.

[3] Anabaptist Essentials by Palmer Becker is a great resource to understand the place and priority of community for Mennonite churches and institutions in light of how we understand working together and following God’s will for our ministry.