Hallelujah and Just Plain Wow!
The turnout on our first Sunday in-person service exceeded all of our expectations. It was such a wonderful joy to see all of you who attended! Thank you to everyone who made it happen. The service was perfect for our first gathering; we managed to pull off live streaming at the last minute; and “singing in our hearts” and a closing song in place was quite satisfying. We look forward to continuing to see you at upcoming services.
We want you all to know that we will continue to look at our safety guidelines for seating and congregating. For the immediate future please refer to the information that was printed in the mailer sent out with the survey. We are appointing a “Covid Safety Task Force” that will guide us as we make future decisions.
For this Sunday:
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We ask that if you are not vaccinated that you consider our Beloved Community and view the service on Facebook live or the recording later.
- We ask that you arrive a few minutes early so that you can be comfortably seated when the service is scheduled to start.
- Overflow seating will be set up in the Oneto Room. We are working on connecting speakers for that room to the sound system.
- Joys and Concerns will continue to be collected during the service and read by the worship associate.
We also ask for your patience. We continue to follow CDC and RIDOH guidelines and to consider UUA recommendations and information on the Covid Act Now website. Washington County continues to be at high or very high risk (according to CovidActNow) and we are trying to balance our real need to be together with our deep concern for the safety of us all. As always, risk management remains your own personal responsibility.
Updates on a few other important matters…
- We have applied for a temporary, part-time minister through the Targeted Ministry program of the UUA and are waiting to hear back. The ministers in this program are retired and offer a wealth of experience but are only placed for a six-month period.
- Survey Results in a nutshell:
52 people responded to our reopening survey. Of those who answered it was evenly divided between those who felt it is safe to return to in-person services with our precautions in place and those who did not feel it is safe.
Only one person responded that our precautions were too restrictive.
Livestreaming and recording of our services was the most asked for accommodation.
If you have other opinions to share please do so!
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The Coordinating Council will reconvene on September 29th by Zoom. If you are a chair of a committee and have not yet been contacted, please email me at elizdn@hotmail.com.
- UUCSC is in need of a person to oversee Fundraising. The Board has decided that we can’t hold our Holiday Fair this year as we continue to navigate Covid Safety in our sanctuary. Do you have some innovative ideas to share? Are you the person that can take on this task?
- The service on September 26th is planned to be held outside. Look for more details in next week's newsletter.
Elizabeth Donovan, President
On behalf of the Board of Directors