The Board and the 2.0 Task Force met Monday evening to consider options for responding to skyrocketing numbers of Covid cases and hospitalizations in our area. After thoughtfully and carefully considering a number of plans, the group together made these decisions, which the Board immediately voted unanimously to adopt:
Sunday worship will be Zoom only for the next 3 weeks- Jan 9, 16, and 23. Musicians, Rev. Lee, and other worship leaders, speakers, or guest musicians will be in person, as will the onsite tech team. Parishioners will be asked to attend via Zoom.
Religious Education Sunday morning programming is cancelled for the same three Sundays. Faith Formation Director Kerry Anne Kilkelly and Youth Coordinator Amy Ruiter will be in touch with families and youth with details.
The Crossroads concert for January will be postponed or cancelled. Respecting the fact that a great deal of work has already gone into this event, the Board will be in conversation with the Crossroads committee about how to proceed going forward.
The dozen people in the meeting took the time to listen carefully to one another’s experiences and perspectives, and to think about the well-being of the congregation, the staff and in-person volunteers, and the broader community. Because we know that for many – but not all – of those fully vaccinated and boosted, an infection can be mild, we paid attention to hospitalization rates and capacity, rather than infection rates, in making our decision. We are especially concerned about how this current wave is stretching our health care system and those who are health care workers and do not want any gathering at church to add to the numbers. We further noted that things could look very different in two or three weeks, and plan to take a fresh look at the regular Board meeting on January 20.
Thanks for the trust you place in leadership to make decisions, especially when those decisions are hard and lead to disappointment. It is times like these when our covenant of right relations is put to the test; we thank all of you for hanging in there with us, as we face another frustrating blip in the history of our 376 years.
