The New Normal....PERSONAL SPACE!
It will be a long time before people are comfortable with the idea of hugging, shaking hands, taking someone's hand in the altar...all those things we have accepted as part of our church culture. The NEW NORMAL will require adjustments in areas such as these. In fact, some pastors are going to be forced to do some teaching, indeed possibly some face-to-face correction in this area because of the insistence on the part of some to continue their practice of close contact.
You might as well look at your sanctuary and decide how to space people differently than before. We have for years touted the 80% rule. That rule stated in broad terms that an 80% capacity of your facility was all you could hope to accomplish on a regular basis. For years, that has been proven mostly correct. Now, we are hearing the idea that we will be faced with a 60% rule. Simply put, if your sanctuary "seats" 200, the 80% rule meant you could, at best, expect to maintain an attendance of abut 160 in a single service in that building. The NEW NORMAL tells us that number has dropped to 120. Go ahead and figure how you can seat people in groups and provide distance. Family groups which live together can cluster. Individuals or couples are going to need space.
What about the nursery? In the current environment, have families sit together. There is nothing wrong with, for the next few weeks or months, with children sitting with parents and observing worship and prayer. In fact, there is nothing wrong with parents training their children in church. One successful church of which I am aware provides all children under a certain age with colors and a page depicting something about the Pastor's message which not only helps keep their attention, it provides a teaching tool which the parents can use in training up their child
For many churches, this is the time to add a second service. Some churches need to already have in place a second or third meeting area on the campus where the service can be streamed. I hear your objections already...but this is the NEW NORMAL. If you want to flourish in the upcoming season, get ready now.