CHURCH GUIDELINES MAY & JUNE 2020 

During this difficult time of pandemic and social distancing, we finally see Ohio gradually reopening to select businesses and activities, with precautions firmly in place to prevent a severe "second wave" of COVID-19. In keeping with this gradual reopening, it is necessary that we make similar arrangements within our Church to gather for liturgy inside the church building.

The liturgy you may attend in the weeks ahead will look and feel much different from what you remember from three months ago. The pandemic is not over, and safety precautions must be followed to promote the continued health and safety of everyone in our community.

We want you to be prepared. Thus, we have created a new set of guidelines to help. These guidelines have considered expert advice from the medical community, public health leaders, and Church hierarchy. They are meant to assist everyone in safely participating in the liturgy while maintaining the sound health precautions counseled by health and government officials. It will be imperative for all of us to work together during these times.

LITURGICAL GUIDELINES 

In order to participate in liturgy, the following guidelines MUST be met. 

1. A family that lives in the same household are allowed to register and attend the same service. No extended family members or neighbors will be allowed to register as one family. Each household must register on their own behalf. 
2. Doors open 15 minutes before liturgy start time and close 10 minutes after liturgy begins. If you are not on time, you will not be allowed entry and will have to register for a different date/time, depending on availability. 
3. Leave one empty space between cars, to allow for social distancing between families. 
4. You may not enter if your temperature is 100.0°F or higher. The morning of the service, take your temperature at home to ensure you are not sick. 
5. If any member of the registering family has symptoms or a high temperature, the entire family must stay home. Please visit the CDC page for more details about symptoms: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html
6. Families must enter and leave as a unit. No wandering inside the church building unless for use of the bathroom. Proper handwashing and sanitizing must follow your bathroom use. 
7. Children, ages 10 and under, must be accompanied by a parent to use the bathroom and to supervise washing their hands properly. Remember, this is your responsibility to your church and the public. 
8. Upon entering the building, you must sanitize your hands (hand sanitizer provided by the church). 
9. Face masks are mandatory for the entire length of service. Masks may only be removed before receiving communion and must be put back on immediately after communion and drinking your water. 
10. Each person attending the service will bring their own water bottle to drink after communion. (The church will provide a small bottle of water for the first time you take communion. Please bring it back with you full each time you plan to take communion.)
11. You must maintain social distance (6 feet minimum) from everyone that is not living under the same roof. 
12. Each member will be provided a disinfecting wipe upon arrival to sanitize their own space in their pew before service. Another wipe will be provided for sanitizing your pew area after the service has ended. 
13. After you have sanitized your pew area, we ask that each family promptly leave the church premises as a unit when called upon by an usher. We will not have the coffee hour/social hour or Sunday School on church premises. After service is over, congregating in the building and parking area is not allowed. 

FOR EVERYONE’S SAFETY the following precautions have been taken by the church. All doors will be propped open to limit contact with high contact touchpoints. The bathrooms have been equipped with touchless faucets, soap dispensers, and paper towels dispensers to limit contact with high contact touchpoints as well. Orban will be made by bakers wearing masks and gloves and the Orban will be sealed in individual bags. Abouna and the altar deacon will wear shields and masks during communion. Altar deacon will wear gloves. Abouna will wear gloves for communion to babies. 

“I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the LORD.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭122:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

After you have registered, if you did not receive an email confirmation (either through Google Forms or the Church’s email), please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 216-307-5177 to verify whether your registration was received.

Please arrive within 15 minutes before the liturgy start time and no later than 10 minutes after the liturgy begins.

Please note, both registration and the only entrance into the church are located under the canopy (where we distributed korban a few weeks ago). See attached map for detailed instructions. 

Please leave one empty space between parked cars. Cars are not allowed to park next to each other, to maintain social distancing between families.

For further instructions, please refer to the “Church Guidelines” https://www.stmarkclev.org/news-events/item/191-church-guidelines-may-june-2020

Please remember:

• Bring your own facemask. If you do not have a facemask, the church will provide one.
• Ladies, bring your own head covering, if you have one.
• The church will provide a small bottle of water for the first time you take communion. Please remember to bring it back with you each time you plan to take communion.
• Always maintain social distancing, including during communion.
• When the deacon prays, "Greet one another with a holy kiss," pat your chest instead.

If you have any questions, please email ​This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call ​216-307-5177.

Thank you for your cooperation and God bless you.

“I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the LORD.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭122:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

 In order to ensure the safety of everyone, we will have a limited number of families allowed in the church building for each service. 

You will be receiving an email from Google forms with the title, " St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church Registration for August 2020 Liturgies". This email will be used as a confirmation for your registration. If you do not receive an email or have any missing information (or any blank fields), please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 216-307-5177 to verify whether your registration was received. For Liturgy Attendance Instructions please Click Here.