The desert will rejoice, and flowers will bloom in the wilderness. The desert will sing and shout for joy... |
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When God's people were in exile in Babylon, Isaiah prophesied that they would return home - that a path would open in the desert and their way would be made clear. Most of 2020 and 2021 have been something like a period of exile for us. That might be overstating it for some, but the long period of being separated, against our will, from people and places that we love leads some of us to view this present moment, as things begin to change, as being poised for a return from exile.
In-person worship has resumed at UniLu.
There are, of course, some adjustments we will have to make, and you will find those outlined below. Some will be a nice change from the restrictions of the last 16 months; others will seem unnecessarily restrictive to some of you. While you might be safe without some of the policies outlined below, not everyone is. So, we are asking people to accommodate some inconveniences for the common good. The Council has approved these policies, which were drafted by the Covid-19 Advisory Team, because we want to make the space safe for everyone.
In-person worship has resumed at UniLu.
There are, of course, some adjustments we will have to make, and you will find those outlined below. Some will be a nice change from the restrictions of the last 16 months; others will seem unnecessarily restrictive to some of you. While you might be safe without some of the policies outlined below, not everyone is. So, we are asking people to accommodate some inconveniences for the common good. The Council has approved these policies, which were drafted by the Covid-19 Advisory Team, because we want to make the space safe for everyone.
When you come to worship in person:
Please bring a reusable, non-breakable cup. The Eucharist will be celebrated and bringing our own reusable cups is one way we can be both safe and earth-conscious.
You will be asked to wear a mask and to leave some physical distance between you and people outside of your household. We will not be imposing a capacity limitation on the sanctuary, we will not prohibit group singing, we will not forego communion, we will not ask anyone to prove that they are vaccinated, and we will not prevent unvaccinated people (like children) from worshipping. To make that so, we will be asking everyone to leave some space and properly wear a mask inside.
Some new technology will be in the Sanctuary, in order to allow Zoom participants and in-Sanctuary participants to worship together on an equal footing. This includes a flatscreen TV, 3 unobtrusive cameras, 2 invisible microphones, and 1 invisible speaker. While each Zoom participant can choose whether to turn their camera on or off, we will leave cameras on in the Sanctuary for the duration of the service. (Note that we are using a Portal set-top box as a Zoom participant with a smart speaker. Speech and face recognition are disabled. We will evaluate replacements as we learn more about our requirements. If you feel called to in-person worship but don’t want to be on camera, please let Pastor know as soon as possible so that we can direct you to chairs that will not be on camera.) We will continue to use a password-protected Zoom link that has kept Zoom bombers at bay.
The bathrooms will be available. The only change here is that we ask people to prop the door open when they leave the bathroom, if there is no one waiting for it, in order to let the air circulate.
The sanctuary doors and windows will also be open. Be mindful of the weather when you leave home in the morning as the doors to the sanctuary will be open the whole time we are inside. June Gloom is approaching and some days you might want an extra layer.
We will be singing. As everyone will be masked, we feel it is safe for us to sing together.
We will be using hand-held materials. As the risk of surface transmission is minimal, especially with a week in between uses, hymnals, booklets, and Bibles will be available for everyone.
We will be sharing the Peace. At first, we will be encouraged to share Christ’s peace with one another from our seats to avoid too much moving around and close contact.
Communion will be celebrated around the Table. We will gather, in smaller groups at first, with our non-breakable, reusable cups. (Please keep yours clean during the service.) (Those without their own cup will receive a small, compostable cup.) After Pastor serves you bread and passes by, you can lower your mask, eat the bread, and replace your mask. Pastor will come around again to pour wine or juice into each person’s cup; after he passes by, you can lower your mask, drink from the cup, and replace your mask. If you brought your own cup, take it home with you to wash reverently; paper cups can be disposed of reverently in a provided compost bin. (Common practice is to pour excess communion wine directly into the ground.)
Offerings will be received remotely. Until we can be confident that trained offering counters will be present, we will continue to receive your tithes and offerings in the way you’ve been making them these last 25 months.
Fellowship Hour is back. Once outside, you are welcome to remove your mask. Please be mindful of others when you approach them - many of us will be very excited to see each other, but remember that not everyone is a hugger, even in normal times.
Please bring a reusable, non-breakable cup. The Eucharist will be celebrated and bringing our own reusable cups is one way we can be both safe and earth-conscious.
You will be asked to wear a mask and to leave some physical distance between you and people outside of your household. We will not be imposing a capacity limitation on the sanctuary, we will not prohibit group singing, we will not forego communion, we will not ask anyone to prove that they are vaccinated, and we will not prevent unvaccinated people (like children) from worshipping. To make that so, we will be asking everyone to leave some space and properly wear a mask inside.
Some new technology will be in the Sanctuary, in order to allow Zoom participants and in-Sanctuary participants to worship together on an equal footing. This includes a flatscreen TV, 3 unobtrusive cameras, 2 invisible microphones, and 1 invisible speaker. While each Zoom participant can choose whether to turn their camera on or off, we will leave cameras on in the Sanctuary for the duration of the service. (Note that we are using a Portal set-top box as a Zoom participant with a smart speaker. Speech and face recognition are disabled. We will evaluate replacements as we learn more about our requirements. If you feel called to in-person worship but don’t want to be on camera, please let Pastor know as soon as possible so that we can direct you to chairs that will not be on camera.) We will continue to use a password-protected Zoom link that has kept Zoom bombers at bay.
The bathrooms will be available. The only change here is that we ask people to prop the door open when they leave the bathroom, if there is no one waiting for it, in order to let the air circulate.
The sanctuary doors and windows will also be open. Be mindful of the weather when you leave home in the morning as the doors to the sanctuary will be open the whole time we are inside. June Gloom is approaching and some days you might want an extra layer.
We will be singing. As everyone will be masked, we feel it is safe for us to sing together.
We will be using hand-held materials. As the risk of surface transmission is minimal, especially with a week in between uses, hymnals, booklets, and Bibles will be available for everyone.
We will be sharing the Peace. At first, we will be encouraged to share Christ’s peace with one another from our seats to avoid too much moving around and close contact.
Communion will be celebrated around the Table. We will gather, in smaller groups at first, with our non-breakable, reusable cups. (Please keep yours clean during the service.) (Those without their own cup will receive a small, compostable cup.) After Pastor serves you bread and passes by, you can lower your mask, eat the bread, and replace your mask. Pastor will come around again to pour wine or juice into each person’s cup; after he passes by, you can lower your mask, drink from the cup, and replace your mask. If you brought your own cup, take it home with you to wash reverently; paper cups can be disposed of reverently in a provided compost bin. (Common practice is to pour excess communion wine directly into the ground.)
Offerings will be received remotely. Until we can be confident that trained offering counters will be present, we will continue to receive your tithes and offerings in the way you’ve been making them these last 25 months.
Fellowship Hour is back. Once outside, you are welcome to remove your mask. Please be mindful of others when you approach them - many of us will be very excited to see each other, but remember that not everyone is a hugger, even in normal times.
Finally, a few pastoral comments:
The practices the Council has adopted, as recommended by the Covid-19 Advisory Team, are intended to make worship accessible to the greatest number of people. As you can see, we are taking a more cautious approach than the state or county requires of us. But, as 1) the World Health Organization is recommending that even fully vaccinated people continue to wear masks and maintain distance, 2) at least one major county in our state has recommended the same, and 3) our hope is to continue to avoid any cases of Covid-19, we have retained some of the restrictions that are no longer required but are recommended. We imagine the restrictions will loosen over the summer, but we also realize that they might tighten again first. We are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to modify this plan.
Worshiping in-person and together is the norm for Christian communities. It is our hope hope that those for whom it is healthy and safe to do so will join the in-person community as soon as they can. That is, while we are making the service fully available on Zoom, we encourage you not to rely on the convenience of Zoom but to return to the service in-person when it is right for you.
Even those worshiping in person might still want to keep some distance, keep their mask on when outside, or not stay around after worship. Reasons are many, but include people protecting their own health or the health of loved ones.
For some, even these restrictions will not be enough. Though some of us can rejoin the in-person congregation immediately, not all of us can. Please be mindful that we will all be easing into this at different tempos, and remember that people worshiping from home are still part of the community who should be included as fully as possible.
Let us expect and respect the gradual pace with which people will return to larger gatherings.
The practices the Council has adopted, as recommended by the Covid-19 Advisory Team, are intended to make worship accessible to the greatest number of people. As you can see, we are taking a more cautious approach than the state or county requires of us. But, as 1) the World Health Organization is recommending that even fully vaccinated people continue to wear masks and maintain distance, 2) at least one major county in our state has recommended the same, and 3) our hope is to continue to avoid any cases of Covid-19, we have retained some of the restrictions that are no longer required but are recommended. We imagine the restrictions will loosen over the summer, but we also realize that they might tighten again first. We are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to modify this plan.
Worshiping in-person and together is the norm for Christian communities. It is our hope hope that those for whom it is healthy and safe to do so will join the in-person community as soon as they can. That is, while we are making the service fully available on Zoom, we encourage you not to rely on the convenience of Zoom but to return to the service in-person when it is right for you.
Even those worshiping in person might still want to keep some distance, keep their mask on when outside, or not stay around after worship. Reasons are many, but include people protecting their own health or the health of loved ones.
For some, even these restrictions will not be enough. Though some of us can rejoin the in-person congregation immediately, not all of us can. Please be mindful that we will all be easing into this at different tempos, and remember that people worshiping from home are still part of the community who should be included as fully as possible.
Let us expect and respect the gradual pace with which people will return to larger gatherings.