Written by A health and wellness policy was something that years ago I would never have considered. We never talked about it in any of my classes or education environments. It only began to come up when I was involved in my ministry cohort, which was going on shortly after the pandemic started.
Our church implemented a health and wellness policy like many others once COVID-19 hit in our area. We implemented guidelines and policies to ensure that everyone remained safe and healthy. Like many other churches, these policies were met with mixed reactions. But after refining the policy and thinking about the future of health and safety for the church, we now have a policy that exists for all ministries and seeks to love and care for our people in meaningful and proactive ways.
I don’t mean to write this post as a worst-case scenario, or to try to instill fear, but instead to help us serve and care for our communities well. This is an opportunity for us show the love of Jesus in very real and tangible ways as we help to protect our community. With the fall upon us, we will start to see a rise in the common cold, flu, RSV, and COVID as students are back in school and activities are ramping up. So how do we handle this well? What are some key things to make sure we implement?
Have an overall wellness policy, not a policy per illness.
We don’t have a COVID-19 policy, we have a health and wellness policy with an addendum about COVID. That means our policy has health and wellness guidelines for all sorts of illnesses and helps us address the entirety of the community, not just the ones who catch a certain illness.
Make sure your guidelines are clear.
I don’t know about you, but I have some students who love to try to find a way around the rules. Whether it’s a PowerPoint game, a group competition, or even just the guidelines for our youth group. But I think we all know this doesn’t just apply to students. Sometimes leaders and parents will try to get around guidelines and rules, so make sure they are clear and easily understood. Don’t over-complicate the guidelines but instead look for clarity in what you are stating.
Keep it simple.
This is something I learned during 2020 when we tried to spell out all the rules and have all the contingencies. But truth be told, we either weren’t prepared for the circumstances that developed or we had a ton of rules for moments that never materialized. What I learned through all of that was to keep these guidelines simple. Instead of trying think through all the rationalizing that we can do for an illness and if people should participate, just keep it simple and say, “If you’re feeling sick, stay home.” The simpler the guidelines the better and easier they are to understand.
Have PPE items available.
The term PPE (personal protective equipment) became extremely popular during the pandemic and many people presume that this refers to mask, gloves, and sanitizer. But it actually can expand to much more. Yes, gloves and masks are helpful–especially if you have to deal with first aid issues that may involve blood borne pathogens–but there are other items to include. These could be certain cleaners, hand sanitizers, Clorox or similar style wipes, first aid items, and hand soaps at all hand washing locations.
Be willing to explain the reasoning for your policy.
When we first instituted our policy we got a lot of questions. Yes, you could make the argument that we all had a lot of questions about our wellness policies in 2020, but the reality is I still get questions as to why we have one. My answer is usually pretty simple: we believe that part of being followers of Jesus means caring for one another (especially those who are in need) and this is one of the best ways we can do that. Sometimes that suffices and other times it does not. We have to be willing to share the reasoning for our policy, but also need to understand there will still be those who disagree regardless of our reasoning.
Explain the policy to students, families, and leaders.
Clarity of thought and communication is key for this policy. These guidelines and policies need to be communicated to everyone they affect, and that means thinking through the spheres of communication. We always walk through this at all of our leader training sessions, communicate it to students at the start of each semester, and we send it out to all parents in our newsletter. That way everyone is aware of our policy and the reasoning behind it.
So what are our guidelines?
They’re pretty simple: if you’re sick stay home. That goes for students and leaders. We love that our leaders are dedicated but if they are sick, they aren’t going to be at their best and they could get others sick. The only addendum we have is for COVID-19, and that is simple as well. For the first five days we ask the student or leader to stay home (i.e. not coming to church activities) and then the next five days they are able to participate but with a mask.
Our reasoning is exactly what we stated above: to love and care for others well no matter the circumstance. We want to make sure that our immuno-compromised friends can still come and not have to worry about getting sick and that we don’t spread illness around to others. We believe that Jesus, being the great Healer, would want His followers to do all they can to ensure the health of His Bride, the church. We embody that through our health and wellness guidelines.
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