Belleville Armenian Church

COVID-19 Guidelines As of January 24, 2021

Anyone who is feeling sick or has a fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, or new loss of taste or smell should remain at home.
If you have been exposed to someone with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, you must stay at home for 14 days before returning to church. A negative COVID-19 test is required to return to church.
Please take your general health, underlying medical conditions and age into consideration when deciding whether to attend church or not attend church.
We will continue to live-stream our Sunday services to accommodate those who cannot attend Sunday services.

Please be in the sanctuary before or right at 10:30 to avoid unnecessary distractions during Badarak.
Only the front doors of the church will be used for entry and exit.
Face Masks must be worn at all times.
Please make certain that you sign the Contact Tracing Book as you enter the church vestibule, then use the hand sanitizer provided.
Ushers will be stationed at the church entrance to assist you through this process.

Pews will be marked with an X to designate seating for social distancing purposes. People living in the same house may sit together.
Attendance is strictly limited to 25 or fewer people including the clergy and choir members.
The priest and deacons will conduct Badarak on the altar until the end of the service and will not chant walking through the aisles.
Worshipers should sing along only in a whisper to minimize any possible transmission of disease.
Since there will be no pew books in Church at this time, the Diocese has provided ways to follow the service by personal phone and tablet, both Android and Apple.

Parents must exercise particular supervision over their children, assuring that they not wander too close to, or come into contact with, other people.
The Kiss of Peace is to be conducted by bowing the head toward others, without touching or approaching them.
Mas will be prepared by the priest and placed in individual packages for parishioners. This will be placed on a table directly outside of the sanctuary.
Instead of passing a collection plate, we will place the collection plate to the right of the candles for donations. Candles may be lit and any donations placed into the collection plate.

If one chooses to take Holy Communion, you may partake in one of two ways:
1. The priest will fully extend his right hand and drop the Holy Particle into the right hand of the communicant.
2. Or, the priest will fully extend his right arm, dropping the Holy Particle into the communicant’s mouth, using extreme care to prevent any contact with the communicant.
(NOTE: The usher will guide you, following the social distancing requirement of 6 feet, to the priest to receive Holy Communion. Those who want communion put on their right hand will be first in line and receive communion first. ALSO, communion will be offered at the end of Badarak.)
Remove one side of your mask to take the communion and then immediately place the side of your mask back on. After communion, please exit the sanctuary and proceed to your car.
Hand sanitizing will be done continuously throughout the process of Holy Communion.

At the conclusion of Badarak, the Gospel will not be presented for the faithful to kiss.
After church, please proceed out of church through the front doors maintaining a safe distance between one another. Please do not congregate together following the service and return to your cars immediately.
PLEASE KNOW: After church, the sanctuary will be cleaned and disinfected with appropriate cleaning products.
Fellowship/coffee hour is suspended until further notice.

**There will be no Sunday School at this time.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION DURING THIS COVID-19 PANDEMIC, AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AT CHURCH, VERY SAFELY.

Keep the Candles Burning