REOPENING UPDATE – 12.16.2021
Where We Stand, and Christmas Eve Plans
A hearty thank you to all who have contributed to our CUUC Reopening over the past few months. While we’ve had some hiccups, everyone has adapted well to our current mode of worship as we explore the evolving landscape of safe practices and pandemic protocols.
Many of you are aware that case rates are heading higher again in Westchester County, and the detection of positive cases of the new Omicron variant are popping up across the US. We’ve also seen cases hitting closer to home in our building and congregation recently. The reopening committee met to discuss whether we should consider suspending in-person services, since case rates have risen back above our original mark for the return to in-person worship. At this time, we believe that the proof of vaccination requirement coupled with continued indoor masking and distancing is sufficient to limit the risk of exposure between congregation members, and we do not see a need to return to fully remote services. At the same time, we are monitoring the data on the new variant closely, and listening for any updated guidance from federal and state bodies on in-person gatherings among vaccinated individuals. The early data available on severity and risk for those vaccinated suggests we will continue with our current course, and we will continue to listen and react as more data becomes available.
For those who have been remote, the hybrid model has been working, but still has room for improvement. We've experienced a number of issues over the past few weeks with network or audio issues, and are testing out a number of changes to attempt to improve the stability and quality of the experience for those connecting to service over Zoom. Please bear with us as we continue to work through the technical challenges of the live streaming model. Thanks for everyone's patience with the bumps along the way.
Christmas Eve Service, Fri Dec 24, 5:30pm
We are excited to announce that this year our annual Christmas Eve service will be hybrid -- with policies to ensure that those who choose to attend in person will remain safe. We will keep in place our restriction of limiting in-person attendance in the sanctuary to those who have been vaccinated, and we will be implementing extra steps to ensure that we can keep distancing protocols in place. Unfortunately, we will be unable to accommodate un-vaccinated children in the sanctuary, and we do not offer childcare for this service.
Christmas Eve is often one of our most highly-attended services, with many people also bringing additional family members, so we are requiring folks to reserve space for your group ahead of time, to ensure we have enough capacity to seat everyone safely. As holiday music is a central and beloved part of the Christmas Eve service, we will continue asking attendees to hum and not sing, but we will have the voices of 5 singers who have all been COVID vaccinated, will have been tested that day, and who will be singing, masked, from the back of the chancel.
In fellowship,
The CUUC Reopening Committee
