Notice of Annual Meeting

June 7, 2020 at Noon

Zoom Info: https://uuma.zoom.us/j/444532079
Or call in by phone: 1-669-900-6833, then enter Meeting ID: 444 532 079

Please join us for our annual meeting where we will vote on the 2020-21 Budget, new Slates for our Board of Trustees and other elected positions, and much more! Online voting instructions will be sent out closer to the meeting date and there will be an opportunity to practice at the beginning of the meeting. 

Links to important documents for your review are on our  web site.

Dear UUCM Community, 

Thank you so much for all of your feedback to the Long-Range Planning Committee, which has now temporarily assumed the task of the COVID-19 Response Committee.  You have likely seen our survey requests, guidance from the UUA, and now news that California is moving to allow churches to begin the process of reopening.  We would like to share a little bit with you about what we learned from you and others, and what the process will be for UUCM. 

First, many thanks to Wendy Meluch for facilitating a survey of our members and friends about how online church may or may not be meeting your needs.  We received 75 responses to the survey, and some additional emails with questions and suggestions.  It is clear from those results that many of you appreciate the online and phone connections that we have been making available while our building is closed, and there were many good ideas about what additional offering or changes might make the experience even better.  We have heard you, and expect to see some of these suggestions implemented in the near future.  You can hear more details at our June 7 Annual Meeting.

Some of you have expressed the desire for us to resume in-person gathering as soon as possible.  Others expressed concern that we might consider reopening the church before it is safe to do so.  Please be assured that we will not resume any activities at our building that we believe will create unnecessary risks to the health of our members or staff.  Although the State has issued some guidance on reopening places of religious worship, UUCM is not going to move to resume in-person worship in the next few weeks. 

We are still waiting for guidance from the County of Marin Department of Public Health about what specific requirements might be.  But given the existing guidance from the UUA, CDC, and State of California, it seems clear that:

• The building will remain closed until we receive and analyze specific guidance from the County.
• We will open gradually, making meeting space available to small groups before larger gatherings.
  • We will encourage groups to meet outdoors, if possible.
• In-person worship services will be one of the last activities to resume in our building.

Even when we do resume, it seems that the worship experience will need to change dramatically from what we were used to in the past.  For example, we would need to increase physical distance, wear masks, eliminate singing, stop sharing food and drink, and limit the number of people in the building to 25% of our capacity.

In addition to the concerns about how the worship experience might change, we must also consider what supplies, volunteers, and additional work by our cleaning service might be necessary in order to keep our building clean and safe for all of those who come in person.  This might mean additional expenses for staff time and supplies, and it might also mean that we are limited by the availability of necessary supplies (e.g., face masks or sanitizing wipes).  For all of these reasons, the Committee is recommending that we take a slow approach to resuming activities in our building. 

The building will remain closed until we have specific guidance from the County.  As this situation is changing, we will keep you all updated on developments.  As always, we appreciate your feedback and questions at any time, but especially at our June 7 Annual Meeting.