Good People,
After leading worship this past Sunday, I hopped onto Zoom and joined our Coffee Hour Breakout Rooms to chat with folks. Any number of people asked, ‘What’s the plan for services?’ and ‘Is there a process?’ My answers were:
‘Yes, we’re planning as best we can. As for the process – you’re in it.’
Sometime last spring, we held out hope that we could all be together in the sanctuary with relatively few restrictions. Yet that was not to be. Now we are taking it essentially a Sunday at a time, paying attention to what is working and what’s not, and adjusting as we go.
Here’s what’s happening now.
- We have a spiffing new lights-camera-action sanctuary (studio) and a team of people to help run it.
- We’ve had three hybrid services and are working out just a few kinks.
- We’re paying close attention to ventilation and other Covid safety measures.
- Our children and youth are enjoying RE outdoors with a dedicated group of teachers.
- We’ve got a team of people checking the outdoor areas for cleanliness and safety before classes begin each Sunday.
What’s coming next?
- We’re re-assessing our situation each Sunday, paying attention to county, state, and UUA guidelines.
- We are taking all three as just that – guidelines – and deciding what works best for us.
- We are prepared to pivot as needed.
Future Outdoor Events
- Our Annual Auction kicks off with a live event on Saturday, Oct. 23 at 3:30, with food and entertainment. Please RSVP here.
- Both Oct. 31 and Jan. 30 are fifth Sundays, so we are currently planning to have Outdoor All Generations services in the parking lot on those days.
- On Oct. 31, we’ll have a Tree of Remembrance Ritual to honor those who we’ve lost in the last year(s).
- Jan. 30 will be an Animal Blessing service, also planned for outdoors, though we’ll pivot to indoors if the circumstances allow.
And for good measure here is a Time Capsule from church as we left it in March of 2020. UUCV Time Capsule You’ll see that I hadn’t even managed to turn my office calendar from February to March that year. There is also a shot of the altar as it was on Christmas Eve in 2020.
- It’s been a long, strange journey, and it’s not over.
- Yet We are re-entering the church, bit by bit.
- And our space are waiting for.
- We’ll be creating the church anew.
Some of our old practices will revive, some will be reinvented, and some new things will be created.
As we enter this next phase of our church life, I invite you into a deeper practice of non-attachment. Try not to be attached to outcomes or to timelines. As we have learned over and over, expectations can lead to disappointment.
With love,
Rev. Dana
