Northwoods UU Church – COVID
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| Dear Northwoods Community, Over the course of this week, your church leadership and I have been closely monitoring the spread of the coronavirus as well as listening to local health officials. As a community, we are called to put the needs of the most vulnerable at the center of our decision-making process. In this case, “the vulnerable” constitutes a rather large group, including those over age 65, those with pre-existing conditions such as heart disease, respiratory conditions and diabetes, and those with compromised immune systems. With that in mind, your board and I have made the decision to suspend in-person worship starting this Sunday and move our gathering online. This is a decision backed up by the UUA, who sent out an email today urging congregations to “avoid gatherings of more than 25 people, including worship and religious education, for the time being.” This may seem premature; even having been as immersed in the decision-making process, it feels a bit surreal to me as well. But as Michael Levitt, former Secretary of Health and Human Services said in 2007, “Everything we do before a pandemic will seem alarmist. Everything we do after a pandemic will seem inadequate.” We have undertaken this decision because we believe that it is the best way to protect the vulnerable people in our congregation, and it is also one thing we can do to slow the spread of the coronavirus in our area, knowing that mortality rates increase significantly when health systems get overwhelmed. Starting this Sunday and continuing forward, we will offer a worship program online for the Northwoods community, using the Zoom video-conferencing platform. We are a creative, agile faith community, and I know we can rise to the challenge of sustaining our connections in innovative ways. We will continue to monitor recommendations by public health officials and the UUA about how long in-person worship and other gatherings will be suspended and will keep you informed every step of the way. In the meantime, you can do two things: Sign up for a Zoom account to participate in online community activities. (You can read more about signing up for Zoom here.)Be gentle with each other. You may be feeling intense emotions; that is natural and understandable. And it is also true that there are steps we can take to protect ourselves, and we can find creative ways to connect to community when we can’t all be together.Our online service will take place at 10:30 . You can use this link to join us. (We’ll share the link on Facebook as well.) If you would like to practice getting onto Zoom and get a brief tutorial, I will be holding “online office hours” on Zoom tomorrow from 1-3 pm and Saturday 9-11 am using the same link as for worship Sunday. This is a tough decision, and one we do not enter into lightly. Gathering together in community is at the heart of so much of what we do—and not just on Sunday mornings. We are a community that cares for each other, that gathers in fun and fellowship, that learns through shared experiences and service, together. On Sundays, we gather to affirm not just the truths we share but our commitment to each other. As we say every Sunday, it is good to be together. But right now, that is not the case. We will continue to gather, but in a different way for the moment. Let us move into this next challenge with grace, gentleness and curiosity. Whether online or in person, this is a congregation I am proud to serve, and I know we will meet this latest challenge. In faith, Rev. Sarah |