We're going LIVE! on Zoom. Eliot Chapel is worshipping fully online through the month of February in response to the current coronavirus surge. Here’s how it works:

See you there!

In February, we will share the offering with Home Sweet Home, an organization that provides donated furniture and household items to clients transitioning out of homelessness. Home Sweet Home believes that establishing a first home stocked with the necessities for everyday life provides a sense of ownership and a source of stability at this crucial time.

Home Sweet Home serves clients who are referred by partner non-profits throughout the St. Louis region, including the Veterans Administration, St. Patrick Center, Women’s Safe House, Criminal Justice Ministry, and St. Louis Crisis Nursery among others. These people come with desperate needs for different reasons and from a variety of backgrounds. Their services are needed most by children, survivors of domestic abuse, veterans, people who are homeless, and ex-offenders looking for a new start. Working with partners, Home Sweet Home picks up donations of new and gently used furniture and household items and delivers them to clients’ apartments or homes.

To learn more about what donations they accept and how to get involved, visit their website at www.homesweethomestl.org.

Here’s how you can give:

Eliot children and families are invited to gather from 9:15-9:45 am via Zoom for connection and community. This week’s session is hosted by Christie Lee and Lara Snyder. Sunday’s gathering is titled Renewing Our Faith-Part 1: Faith & Passion. We’re excited to have Rev. Krista Taves join us and share about how her passions connect with her UU values and identity and impact her ministry. The Zoom link will be shared via email with registered families no later than February 11. 

The Children’s Religious Education FAQs have been updated as of February 1 with more background and up-to-date information about programming in February 2022.

Youth in 8th-12th grades are invited to gather on Zoom for community, connection, and FUN this Sunday, February 13. The room opens at 10:45 am and activities begin at 11:00. This gathering is hosted by Scott Stewart, Curtis Twombly, Dave Day, and Mary Hoehne. A Zoom link and more details about this Sunday’s youth gathering will be sent to registered Eliot youth and families no later than Friday, February 11.

The Youth Group FAQs have been updated as of February 1 with more background and up-to-date information about programming in February 2022.

Zoom Coffee Hour takes place from 12:00 pm to 1:00 on Sunday. You are invited to “walk down the hall” and come to our Zoom Coffee Hour! We’ll take about 10 minutes or so to gather and let people settle in. We'll say a few words of welcome and then create break-out rooms – random groupings of 5 or 6 people. Everyone will likely make a new friend at Eliot from this exercise! You’ll have the chance to introduce yourself and then share your answers to a few questions, like “How has this week been for you?” and “What feelings has it brought up for you?” Each person has about 5 minutes to speak; you are welcome to pass if you like. In half an hour, everyone will return to the big group and we’ll say our goodbyes for the week. Please watch your email for "Eliot on Zoom" which will include a link to join the Zoom Coffee Hour. If you're not on our mailing list, sign up here.

Sunday Worship – 10:00 am via Zoom

Coffee Hour – 12:00 pm via Zoom

Young Adult Group – 12:30 pm on Discord

What Moves Us – 7:00 pm via Zoom

Women's Alliance – 9:30 am via Zoom

Vigil for Hope & Healing – 5:00 pm in front of Eliot

Many groups at Eliot are meeting despite the distance between us all. Check with your group leader or get involved with a new group! Find contact information in our Getting Involved booklet.

Group leaders, have you set up an area for your group in Realm? You have a secure place to chat and share documents and photos. Contact Christie Lee to set up your group.

Please remember Jan Kilgen who is at home following jaw surgery. Jan would appreciate your healing thoughts and prayers for her recovery from debilitating jaw discomfort. 

We are reopening our doors for worship starting Sunday, March 6! I’m excited! It’s been so long. We’re watching COVID cases drop dramatically every day, so we feel it is safe to gather again. For March, in order to minimize confusion, we are going to keep our protocols much as they were in November and December with just a few changes. 

(Note the change in the early service time.) 

Masks are required. We strongly recommend an N95 or K95 mask and will have some on hand for you to try. 

Vaccines and boosters within 6 months are required for all who qualify, ages 5 and up. (Yay, children’s vaccines!) We do welcome nursery and preschool-aged children, encouraging parents to take them directly to the young children’s space in Rooms 002 & 003. We are not requiring proof of vaccination. 

We also ask that you make reservations. This helps everyone to make a choice about how much space they need around them. For example, you can reserve a whole pod for yourself and/or your family if you’d rather not mix households. If not, just reserve the number of spots you need and welcome your neighbor. We have lots of space and lots of choices.  

We will again welcome children of all ages to the 9:15 am service. Children’s Religious Education for grades K-7 will meet in Adams Hall from 9:30-10:15.  

At 11:00 am, we welcome all who have been vaccinated. Youth Group (grades 8-12) will gather from 10:45-12:00 most Sundays in March.  

We will not meet for coffee hour after services for the month of March, but we’re exploring options for April. 

That’s it! I’m delighted to be reopening. Even if it is a re-reopening. Here’s hoping we won’t need a re-re-reopening. 

Love,

Many thanks to everyone who participated in our “Community Now” meeting January 30. We brainstormed ideas for creating community at Eliot Chapel NOW – even with COVID restrictions. Lots of great suggestions! And right out of the gate, we have…

Many of us walk regularly and that's good news for our health and well being! Sometimes for fun, sometimes because the dogs won't let us get through the afternoon without an outing. Eliot Chapel is inviting folks to share their favorite walks, starting Saturday, February 26 with Laumeier Sculpture Park in Sunset Hills, led by Carl and Yvonne Serbell. This walk is at a moderate-plus pace, about 1.5 miles. Laumeier offers several options in open lawns, woodland trails with good footing (and some moderate ups and downs), plus spectacular artwork at every turn. For our first walk, we're targeting 1:00 to 2:00 pm at Laumeier Sculpture Park on Saturday, February 26. Masking optional. Please email walks@eliotchapel.org if you'd like to join us, and we'll all keep our fingers crossed that the weather cooperates! 

If you want to lead something like this, whether it’s a regular occurrence or just a one-time event, we’d like to hear from you! If it’s online, write to us at frontoffice@eliotchapel.org and we’ll help schedule you on Zoom. In person? Outdoors? Just fill out an event request form. 

Outreach calls. This was the awesome work of many volunteers during the pandemic, reaching out to all Eliot members and friends by email or phone. Jeanne Olson, now living in Mississippi, has sent us her materials and step-by-step instructions on how to organize. If this sounds like a job you’re interested in, let Rev. Krista know.  

Realm Training. We understand that REALM is still a bit foreign and intimidating to folks. I found it so in the beginning. But with just a little training I got the hang of it. You can too! Our staff is making some videos to help you get started or to up your game. 

Hearing Loss Accessibility. Both YouTube and Zoom have closed captioning features you can turn on. They’re instant transcriptions, and therefore somewhat amusing, but still helpful. There are some limitations with live streaming, and we’re working those out. See below for some quick tips and watch for future information. 

If you contributed less than $250 last year and would like a Contribution Statement, you may email Camille Novak at admin@eliotchapel.org and request a statement, or print your own statement in your Realm profile.

Find your Contribution Statement on the right side of your profile. Click the blue "Save" button (see right), type a title or comment of your choosing in the next window, click "Print" and a statement will appear. You may then download the statement and print according to your computer's normal printing directions.

Relationships are a vital part of who we are, within our personal and spiritual lives. Keeping relationships healthy and fulfilling takes time and attention, even in the good times when things are flowing, communication is good, and we feel love and appreciation for the ones we care about. To have a healthy relationship our usual “go-to’s” are togetherness, mutual trust, comfort, and reliability. The past couple of years have been tough because all of the things that help us build relationship have been challenged by isolation, fear, mistrust, and unpredictability. When these challenges arise we feel disconnected and unsure, right? Some of us just want things to be back to “normal.” We are getting weary of fighting this battle, keeping positive thoughts and looking for the silver lining. 

Let us remind you that your church family is here. It has never left. It has looked different, sounded different, felt different, but it has been here all throughout the pandemic. Some of us are embracing it for all it is worth, some of us are hanging on to it despite its unfamiliarity, some of us are setting it aside to see how it ends up looking when all this is over. We implore you to: Hang in there! Reach out! Phone an Eliot friend. Send a note to someone at Eliot who means a lot to you. Thank someone at Eliot who has helped you. Stay involved. Get involved. Read the weekly update. Attend service. Attend coffee hour. Sign up for a group. Be there for someone. Allow someone to be there for you. 

Eliot has been there for you in the past, it is here for you now, and it will be here in the future for you and for future generations. We are the church and the church is you. We can make this happen but only if we stay together in relationship with one another. 

That same evening there is also a live Zoom open forum for the Lindbergh School district hosted by Crestwood PTO. Here is a link to their first forum held February 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxfdb4SsREk

You can register for the open forum at MoEEP's site: https://www.missouriequity.com/events. 

Did you know that you can watch many Eliot Chapel worship services with subtitles? It’s quick and easy to turn subtitles, or closed captions, on and off in YouTube. Simply click the CC icon at the bottom of a YouTube video. A red line appears under the icon when closed captioning is on. 

These are automatic transcriptions so sometimes they're not always the best. If you should see something in the transcripts on YouTube that needs changing, please email news@eliotchapel.org with the video name and the timestamp and a brief explanation of the change.

Our COVID team is here for you. If you are quarantining and need support having groceries and prescriptions picked up, please email pastoralcare@eliotchapel.org with your contact information. 

In an email letter to members and friends, Rev. Barbara outlined "How We Do Church Now" as Eliot Chapel suspended face-to-face meetings. As a guiding document, it was always open to changes as we found out what worked and what didn't in our response to this extraordinary situation. You can find this document on our website now. We will keep it updated as things change. We'll also try to let you know here of any changes.

All staff are working from home. The building and grounds are closed for general use. A staff person is checking on the building and grounds periodically throughout the week for any facilities or maintenance issues. If you need assistance or have any questions, please email the appropriate staff person.

Women’s Alliance will meet via Zoom on Tuesday, February 15, at 9:30 am. After a brief period of conversation, we’ll welcome speaker Greg Lyon who will tell us about his experiences as a Jeopardy contestant. Barb Jones will coordinate the program. Anyone and everyone are invited to join us. For more information, contact womensalliance@eliotchapel.org.

All are welcome; wearing a mask is required as is maintaining the 6-foot social distancing guideline. Please remember that the building is not open so there are no available restrooms. 

This 4-part series offers those considering Unitarian Universalism and Eliot Chapel the opportunity to experience UUism in action. You will learn about our faith tradition, explore your own spiritual journey, and connect with others who are also seeking a spiritual home or faith. Longtime members and friends seeking a small group experience are also welcome.