Le Mars Bible Church Return to Learn Plan

I.  Rationale

                Psalm 119:130 – “The unfolding of your words gives light.”

                Deuteronomy 32:47 – “It is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life.”   

At LBC we are passionate about the Word of God.  We believe it is essential for every person, young and old, to hear, believe, and live out His Words. Back in March, as the COVID-19 pandemic began, we had to suspend most of our children’s ministries or move them to an online format. We now believe that it is vital for us to go back to teaching our children the life-giving Word of God in person. COVID-19 has not gone away, however, so as we reopen these children’s ministries, we will seek to do so in a manner that is safe for our children and volunteers, that is respectful of our government’s guidance, and that will inspire confidence in the parents who will be entrusting their children to our care. 

Note that this is an initial plan, to get the year started.  We may tweak this plan as the year goes along, as more information becomes available to us. 

II.  Dates 

We plan to restart children’s ministries on these dates:

• Middle and high school youth group: September 2
• Kingdom Kids and KidZone:  September 6
• Awana: September 23
• Sunday School and Nursery: October 4

III.  Guidelines

1. Facemasks. President Trump, Governor Reynolds, the CDC, the IDPH, and local health professionals are all urging us to wear facemasks in public settings, “especially when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.”  The IDPH’s guidance for public schools is, “If you can’t social distance, wear facemasks.” 

Our facilities at LBC simply do not allow space for us to social distance during our children’s ministries, either on Sunday mornings or on Wednesday nights.  

So, for Awana, youth group, children’s church, and Sunday School, the leadership of LBC is recommending masks for students and for parents who are dropping off and picking up their children.  And to set the example for the students, we will be requiring our staff to wear masks. 

Here are the exceptions to our recommended for students/required for staff mask policy:

• Those who have trouble breathing because of health conditions will not be expected to wear masks.               
• The CDC indicates that children under 2 should not wear facemasks.  Therefore, we are not recommending masks for children in Puggles, 2-3 year Sunday School, or
• nursery.            
• Nursery volunteers will not be required to wear masks, because they will be holding babies who will likely be grabbing the masks. 
• During Bible teaching time, we will allow the Bible teacher to remove his/her mask, so as not to inhibit the teaching of God’s Word.
• During outdoor activities masks can be removed.
• At times or in locations when social distancing is possible masks can be removed. 

2. Temperature checks will be required in our youngest children’s ministries, because in those ministries we will not be able to ensure either social distancing or recommended mask wearing.  Therefore, Nursery and Puggles children, as well as all nursery volunteers, will have their temperatures taken before they enter the room.  Adults and children with temperatures over 100.4 will not be allowed to participate in that day’s activities.  Those whose temperatures are initially too high will be allowed a brief cooling-down period and a repeated temperature check. 

3. Hand sanitizer will be available at every building entrance and in the bathrooms.

4. Games.  Our youth room and gym have a ventilation system that brings in outside air.  This ventilation system will be on.  Regular Awana and youth group games will be allowed, after which students will be required to sanitize their hands.  

5. Drinking fountains will not be available for use, but the water bottle fill station will be on. 

6. Snacks.  Only individually wrapped snacks will be allowed.

7. Wednesday night drop-off and pickup.  These are the most crowded times on Wednesday nights.  We encourage parents and guardians to wear masks to ensure everyone’s safety at this very busy time. 

IV.  Communication and Cancellation

If LBC becomes aware that someone was in attendance at one of our ministries who has tested positive for COVID-19, we will communicate that information to parents via an email and text message.  Parents should sign up for emails by contacting lbc@lemarsbiblechurch and requesting to be added to the children’s ministry contact list, or they can sign up for Le Mars Bible Church text alerts on lemarssentinel.com. 

If there are positive cases in LBC ministries, or if the school switches to hybrid or online learning because of higher positive rates in the community, LBC leadership will discuss the possibility of temporarily pausing children’s ministry.  If any children’s ministries are cancelled, parents who have signed up will be notified via email and/or text alert.