Dear Beloved Community,
Happy New Year. I hope your holidays were restful and restorative. I have enjoyed spending time at home with my family including both kids, home from school. It’s nice to have the nest full again even briefly.
As you know, we made the call before Christmas Eve to return to all virtual livestreamed services for the time being. The rise in COVID-19 case numbers, at the same time the highly contagious Omicron variant was spreading across the US, prompted the Covid Task Force to make the decision as a preventive and precautionary measure.
The Task Force and I are hopeful that the sudden rise in cases will fall quickly as well, though we cannot predict. It does appear that cases, especially for those who are fully vaccinated and boosted, are relatively mild. If you are eligible for a booster and haven’t gotten one, please do that as soon as you can.
To protect the safety of our community, we will remain virtual for Sunday services and Faith Formation through January and then re-assess toward the end of the month whether we will return to the building and multi-platform services. Worship leaders, musicians, and technical support will be in the sanctuary to livestream the service, while the rest of the congregation will participate from home.
Small groups are still able to meet in the building following the existing protocols including masking at all times, social distancing, and hand washing. We’ll hold off on introducing eating together, even in small groups, at this time.
We continue to be a pro-vaccination community with the expectation that anyone coming to the building is as vaccinated as they can be, including boosters. We will not be checking vaccination cards on Sunday mornings. As a covenantal community, practicing radical hospitality and inclusion, we will have faith in one another that we are doing everything we can to keep ourselves and each other safe and well.
I know it is hard on many of us to have to return to participation from home. It has truly been a joy to see one another in person on Sunday mornings. Please remember that we are in a much different place than we were last year at this time. We do have a highly effective vaccine that is widely available, and we know what to do to keep ourselves and each other well – wear a well-fitting and multi-layer mask over our nose and mouth when we are together inside.
We remain a community committed to nurturing the human spirit for a world made whole. We will stay together in all the ways we can and must. Please reach out to me or Rev. Susan, to the Caring Team or Pastoral Care Team. Try to resist the lure of despair and search together for joy in as many places as you can.
With love and appreciation for all of you,
Rev. Eileen
