Good People,
Folks keep asking if we have a date set for reopening for worshiping in person. The answer is, Kind of….
Here is the Big Picture background and tentative plans.
Our Reopening Team has been looking closely at the details of how and when we will reopen.
They sent out the recent survey, which 128 people responded to. Thank you!
And, of course the Board of Trustees is staying abreast of it all.
I have also been in regular contact with the other clergy in our cluster. We have all agreed that if at all possible, all six cluster congregations will open for in-person worship on the same Sunday. We tentatively, and perhaps optimistically, are hoping that Sunday will be Sept. 12. That is the date we would all be holding our various In-Gathering and Water Communion Services, which would feel so good.
By that date we are hopeful that everyone who wants one will have gotten a vaccination. By that date we will likely have had time to install and practice with a camera and video system that will allow us to continue to Zoom and/or stream our services to all who still want or need to join worship from home.
The Reopening Team and the Board concur with this overall concept and timeline. Yet this is still tentative. September is almost five months from now, and any number of different things may yet happen.
So, keep fingers crossed, think positive thoughts, send out prayers and good vibrations – whatever works for you. My good colleague Rev. Rod Richards from San Luis Obispo says he has been preaching on Holy Flexibility this whole year. So, let us also practice Holy Flexibility for these next months,
And in the Mean Time…We can start gradually, not turning the spigot from ‘off’ to ‘full strength’ overnight. Here are planned small steps and some suggestions for easing in gradually.
The Board has approved the Reopening Team’s recommendation that we can reopen – just for small groups in Berg Hall on May 1. The church will be deep, deep cleaned by April 30. Look for more details about guidelines and protocols for those small groups soon. They will include people being masked and distanced with doors and windows open. Everyone will need to schedule meetings with Administrator Jennifer Luce.
This can help us all see a few people, and then a few people more. So, we can practice ‘people-ing’ again gradually. Personally, I have found my ‘people-ing’ muscles are out of shape.
A couple weeks back, Jimmy led a Yarn-Bombing event in celebration of our newest members. I was so happy to see those 15 folks, that I found myself talking and laughing, spinning in metaphorical and literal circles. I was exhausted by 1 pm that Saturday, and I had to go home and take a nap before finishing the service for the next day.
Our Reopening Team, our Board, and our cluster congregations are moving thoughtfully and carefully toward reopening. We want everyone to be as safe as possible, especially those who are most vulnerable among us. There are so many factors to consider. And we can begin practicing being together again in this new world.
We will not go back to what we once called ‘normal.’ We’ll be finding our way again newly. Look to this Between Sundays space for more detailed information in the coming weeks from the Board and the Reopening Team.
With love and hope,
Rev. Dana
