“… guide us, and those we love, and those we do not love, forward together, till the dayspring breaks, and the shadows flee away.”

I say those words at the end of our services almost every Sunday to remind us that nothing we do happens in isolation. Even now, as we chart our way forward through this next phase of pandemic life, we yearn for a time when we won’t have to worry. And yet, even worrying can be an expression of interconnection and deep care. So can careful planning. And shared deliberation, and careful consideration of both details and grander visions. So, we’re grateful to map out our next steps in COVID planning, worship and programming – the product of much care and attentiveness by your staff, Board leaders and COVID Advisory Team.

Comments from our COVID Advisory Team:  The COVID-19 Advisory Committee has been meeting monthly since June of 2020, to evaluate the latest information about the spread of the virus in Montgomery County, the DMV, and the US, in order to advise Rev. Nancy, our wonderful staff, and our diligent RRUUC event organizers, how best to sustain our beloved community while maintaining as high degree of safety for the congregation as possible. Recently, with some very helpful analysis of infection risk from Walter Scott and Crescent Martin, that you can see here, the Advisory Committee sees new opportunities to expand congregational participation within our beautiful sanctuary.

Some of this good news includes:  Montgomery County 7-day case rates dropping from substantial to moderate risk of infection and relatively low utilization rates of health services; FDA and CDC approval of the Pfizer vaccine (two lower dose shots, three weeks apart) for our children 5-11 years of age. For more information, please click here. To find where you can obtain vaccines for your age-eligible children, please click here and enter your zip code; The expanded availability of higher-quality face masks for our choral singers; With some supply chain problems easing, we are in the process of obtaining markedly improved air filters for our building’s HVAC system, allowing for expanded participation during Sunday services with the sanctuary doors closed as the outside temperature drops.

The Advisory Committee will continue to meet on a monthly basis for the foreseeable future. In the meantime, please enjoy the upcoming holiday season with family and friends safely.

Fall and Early Winter – November 14th thorough December 19th: With transmission rates in Montgomery County at a reasonably lower level and vaccines beginning to roll out for children from ages 5-12, we’ll be expanding our capacity for in-person worship and programming. We’ll keep our high-quality at-home livestream experience while shifting our focus to more engagement and interaction among in-person attendees. Here are some of our shifts underway and continued precautions between now and Christmas: Expand attendance to 100 people in-person for the 10am service. Beginning Nov. 28, we'll stop regularly holding a 12pm service each week.  Solo and small ensemble performance inside the sanctuary by fully vaccinated vocalists; Coffee hour comes back on the first Sunday of each month – outdoors for now! We’re working to upgrade our air filtration systems so that we can close the doors on Sunday mornings. We expect that change to be in effect by Dec. 5;  We have also acquired outdoor heaters for the Religious Education tents; Also – it is very important that we continue to practice universal masking on the grounds and in the sanctuary.  If you do not have a mask or your mask is not firmly situated over your mouth and nose, we have masks available for you to use. For more information about masks, please click here. 

The Holiday Season – a point of turning and re-turning: We hope that the holidays can serve as a kind of turning point in our journey toward the next phase of our time together. After Christmas, we’ll take a short break by visiting our Potomac Partner congregations online for services on Sun., Dec. 26 and Sun., Jan. 2.

During the Holidays: We will be welcoming our fully vaccinated choir, wearing upgraded masks specifically designed for singing, as they return to the sanctuary for the annual Holiday Music Service on Dec. 19 and the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service on Dec. 24; We’ll also be returning to an in-person Christmas Eve Pageant, including children and families, with music again from our all-vaccinated choral program and very limited congregational caroling while children are present indoors; To make this as safe as possible, we are strongly encouraging families attending with children ages five and above to get your age-eligible children vaccinated at soon as you can, having at least one shot of the available Covid-19 vaccine two weeks prior to the holiday services.

Please do read the document which models the CO2 levels in our sacred space and provides some core information that helps guide us in these decisions. All of this is a labor of love from many parties. And still, we hold it all with gentleness, knowing that change is a constant, trends may well move in a concerning direction, and that what it means to move together toward the moment when a new day breaks might just shift all around us once again.     What a blessing it is to navigate all the worry, the discernment and the care of being together alongside all of you –    Warmly,   Rev. Nancy

River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation 6301 River Road, Bethesda, MD 20817 | 301-229-0400 connections@rruuc.org | www.rruuc.org

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