From Rev. Susan Frances: August 27, 2021
Dear Friends,
As we are transitioning back to being in-person while maintaining virtual options, I have been thinking a lot about hospitality and how we engage and communicate with each other. You will soon be receiving emails and calls from me about our Hospitality Teams, which will have roles for volunteering in-person and online. I look forward to connecting with you as we phase into being back in the building together.
We will be returning to the sanctuary for our worship service at 10:15 am on Sunday, September 12, 2021. Our return to an in-person worship service will be accompanied by our adherence to the following COVID-19 community mitigation protocols:
In addition to these four items that each of us can do as we strive to keep our community healthy, we have long range air purifiers throughout the building and are adding high quality filters to our furnace system. The lower level has a special dehumidification and air purification system and the sanctuary exhaust fans above the ceiling panels will run continuously while we are in the building.
We invite you to join us for worship in the sanctuary, where we have spaced chairs to accommodate 100 people. If the crowd gets too large for your comfort, the service will be livestreaming in room 6, where a maximum of 20 people can gather. The service will also be livestreaming in room 3, where our children, including our children under the age of 2 years who will not be masked, and their friends and family are invited to gather if they need a break from the sanctuary. Returning to our sanctuary will require us to listen to each other, accommodate each other, and interact with patience and grace.
If you are feeling anxious about returning to in-person worship or have a day when someone in your family is not feeling well, please stay home, knowing that you may still participate remotely. Thanks to a generous endowment grant and the expertise of Adam Gough, we will be livestreaming the Sunday worship service indefinitely.
In this time of transition, listen to and trust yourself regarding your anxiety about how our community is transitioning into a multiplatform (in-person and online) worship service. We are moving forward with the information we have, knowing that new information could change our plans before September 12th. Just as we have over the past 17 months, we will continue to find creative ways to maintain our connection with each other.
In faith,
Rev. Susan