Lighthouse Church: A Socializing Model

 

This past weekend, I went to my first In-person Worship Service/Gospel Drag Brunch in 15 months. The events were part of Black Queer Pride Weekend and was a trail run for in person worship which is looking like it will come back late July or early August. 

Within Lighthouse there were many different levels of comfort with socialization. From members who were pretty desperate to see people in person to members who for a number of reasons would not super eager to jump into in-person socializing and found our virtual worship just as good. 

(I was more on the side of not being over eager to have to see people in person, so I kept reminding people that not everyone was super eager and we needed to work to make everyone feel comfortable. And this reminder was taken account as will be seen later in this story)

In the end Lighthouse Church/Lighthouse Foundation created what I would consider a model for groups who are working to navigate in person events in the Post-Covid world. 

• There were a series of one on ones and conversations with members around how to make the transition to in person feel like a safe space for everyone who was attending. In conversations there were clear differences of opinion but all these opinions felt heard.

• They actually incorporated the feedback they got. I know, I know, that is just wild talk. LOL

• They had clear expectations (Pre-registration, limited occupancy, the event was in a large indoor gym, masks, social distancing, ...) and choose not to ask if people were vaccinated because the access to vaccines has not be equal among all populations and they wanted to create a safe space for everyone. 

• In addition they were willing to be cautious even when our city decided to open everything up because as our Pastor says his grandma says "Just because you are allowed to do something does not mean that you should"

• We had color coded bracelets (The color system was one of my suggestion, based off something at a conference I went to many years ago) Where Green meant you wanted hugs and all the socializing etc., Yellow meant elbow bumps and some socializing, and Red meant strict social distancing no physical contact etc.

• We all ended up having a great time and I heard that many people were really glad we had the color coded bracelets because it meant there was a clear non-verbal way to express our comfort levels. It also was great because that way you did not feel like you had to explain why and it was clear it was a matter of comfort levels in general (not about liking or disliking a particular person)

So in summary understanding there will be a wide range of social comfort levels within your group or organization, it is important to work to make everyone feel your event is a safe space, and if possible have visual clues that represent what type of socializing each person is comfortable with.