Between Sundays April, 2021

by Admin | Apr 29, 2021 | Between Sundays

Dear Members and Friends,

Recently, many of you participated in a survey from the Re-Opening Team intended to obtain your input about the re-opening of our church facility.  The following is a summary of those responses.  Part of the survey had questions that allowed for the responses to be illustrated in the graphs below.  Other questions presented the opportunity for you to comment directly.  Responses have been edited into several categories/themes and are presented after the graphs.  The information that this survey provides will be used to help guide the Re-Opening Team in making recommendations to the Board of Trustees.  Thank you for your help.

The Re-Opening Team
Priscilla Akin, Kent Brinkmeyer, Bryan Buck, Melissa Ruiz, Cassie Tondro, Jim Waldron

What would make you feel comfortable to attend in-person indoor services?

Social distancing, reduced capacity in sanctuary      43

Everyone vaccinated                                                  30

Mandatory masks                                                       29

High percentage vaccinated                                      13

Good ventilation, windows open                                  8

Lower infection rate                                                      6

Follow CDC/California guidelines                                6

Not comfortable being inside yet                                 6

Temperature checks                                                    5

No hugging/touching                                                    4

Comfortable now as is                                                 4

No singing                                                                    3

Hand sanitizer stations                                                 3

No food                                                                         3

Outdoor coffee hour                                                     2

Thorough cleaning of building                                      2

Outdoor services                                                          1

No hymnals                                                                  1

No masks, get back to normal                                     1

If you have children, what will make you feel comfortable to bring your children to in-person RE classes?

Staff vaccinated                                                           7

Mandatory masks                                                         4

Outdoor classes                                                           4

Social distancing                                                          2

No masks, get back to normal                                     2

Clear plan for safety protocols                                     2

Temperature checks                                                    1

Hand sanitizer stations                                                 1

Not comfortable yet                                                      1

Do you have any other thoughts or suggestions about how we can safely reopen the church and about what would make you feel comfortable doing so?

Speakers at the podium don’t need to wear masks, but anyone in the congregation area should be masked.

Keep surfaces clean, but don’t get obsessive about it. Unnecessary and possibly detrimental to our immune systems.

Put faith above fear.

Monitor in Berg Hall for the overflow crowd to watch services.

Take it slow and easy and incrementally allow more people in.

Continue with online services for those who aren’t comfortable attending in person, those who live far away, and those who are homebound.

Services outdoors, weather permitting.

Servers for the food at coffee hour rather than everyone hovering over the food. People wait in line for food.

Rotate attendance so that some people are allowed to attend one week, and another group the next week.

Use a reservation system for those who would like to attend in-person services and limit the number.

Ask those not vaccinated to attend the Zoom services instead of in-person services.

Bring our own snacks/food.

Poll people and publish/share the percentage who have been vaccinated.

Only socialize with people who have been vaccinated.

Before anyone can honestly answer these questions, one would have to know the approximate date of planned opening.

Plexiglas shield around the minister’s podium.

Don’t pass the collection bags.

Message on our name tags saying something like “social distance please” as a reminder.

No hugging, kissing children, hands on shoulders, or holding hands. “No contact” policy.

No hymnals. Words to the songs on the monitors.

I am comfortable now. I’m vaccinated so anything is okay.

Between Sundays Apr 22, 2021

by Admin | Apr 22, 2021 | Between Sundays

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

Between Sundays April, 2021

by Admin | Apr 8, 2021 | Between Sundays

Good People,

Writing to let you know that I have been selected as a member of the General Plan Advisory Committee for the City of Ventura. I applied because giving input into the cities General Plan means I can address a confluence of issues that are of great importance to me and to the times we are living in and through.

The advisory committee is gathered to provide insights to the General Plan project team to better understand sensitive community needs and also to encourage people to engage with the general plan process. It is an advisory body that does get to make recommendations to the City Council as they update the General Plan.

I wanted to be part of the committee because it is a place that so many of my own and our congregation’s justice concerns intersect. I hope that I can advocate for services for our homeless neighbors and for truly affordable housing for people of all income levels. I hope that the plan can begin to address the continuing effects of age-old and recent ‘red-lining’ housing practices.

This General Plan looks 10 years ahead, and I am highly aware that this is a critical decade for us all to address the effects of climate change that will continue to unfold for the next 20, 30, 40 years and more. Transforming our city into a place that is environmentally sustainable community will mean reducing cars, increasing walkability, increasing bike-ability, and creating efficient and useful public transportation,

I see this work also as an intersection of own sense of urgency as a citizen and resident of Ventura and also for bringing Unitarian Universalist values to the public square. The people who chose the GPAC said that among the reasons I was chosen is that I can be a connection to the faith community.

So, this is both a personal and a professional endeavor for me. I am also choosing to work from within the civic structures and institutions as a member of the community who can have personal input and impact as a member of the clergy in the city.

I encourage all to be involved in this process. I’ll let you know when there are forums where you can bring your input. And please share with me your ideas about the directions Ventura can and should grow into.

I know there are plenty of members who are not residents of the city of Ventura. Yet I am inspired by you all in taking this role. Our communities are all different and all connected.

My dream is to live in a community of many diversities – of race, ethnicity, economics, age, family composition – that is sustainable and contributes to human and environmental flourishing.

May it be so.
With love and hope,
Rev. Dana

Between Sundays

by Admin | Mar 4, 2021 | Between Sundays

Good, Patient, Persistent, Resilient People,
 
Yes, it’s March 2021, and we approach the anniversary of the days that our lives flipped upside down. 
In one of my first missives about the shutdown, I shared that the Board had ‘decided to cancel all gatherings and meetings for up to 3 weeks, or until Sunday, April 5th.’ Oh, how little we knew.  And how well we have weathered this year, which had so much more in store for us.

Our theme for March is Commitment, which is fitting both when we look back and as we look forward. It is our commitment to each other and to the church itself that has kept us going, deepened our relationships in the paradoxical ways of Covid Time. Moving forward, our continued commitment to one another is needed to persevere to the other side of this long shutdown. We will be changed, in some ways transformed, perhaps with a greater understanding of the place of UU Ventura in our hearts and in the community.

March is also Generosity Month. Last March we were one week away from Celebration Sunday in which we would make our pledges for the next year when the doors slammed shut. The Board and Generosity Team decided to postpone our annual stewardship drive in the face of so much uncertainty.
 
We’ve made it through financially because of the continuing gifts from members and friends, and the assistance of a PPP grant and other UU sources. This year we have been approved for another PPP grant which gives us more breathing room to look ahead. We can begin now to rebuild a solid financial footing for the years ahead.
 
Here is a preview of the Month of March in Worship:

• On March 7, I will be speaking about Meeting the Moment. Our church and our faith tradition are practically designed for evolving, changing, adapting to what each new moment reveals. We support the church because it helps us meet what each moment requires.
• March 14 is another collaborative service with our cluster congregations, combining resources to bring anti-racism trainer Shelly Tochluck who will speak on Solidarity and Racial Justice: How Do We Stand Together if We are not All Together?  Another moment we met this year was uncovering the deep and systemic racism in our country. Though we were all at least aware of it, the murder of George Floyd revealed it as an inescapable and horrific reality. And yes, many among us lived that reality every day. So we are, together as UUs in our cluster and across the continent, meeting this new moment with Commitment.
• On March 21, we will join worship with UUA President Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray leading a service on generosity and giving, Loved into Being.  In anticipation of this service, pledging members and friends should be on the lookout for a mystery gift bag delivered to your home beginning on March 7.
• From the end of March into April we will celebrate Passover, Easter, and then the beginning of the month of Ramadan, exploring the traditions of the People of the Book – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – all of which still inform our Living, Flexible, Adaptable Tradition.