Dear WUU Community,
Here at WUU, we have been monitoring the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and responding to keep our community both safe and connected. As you know, we’re in a situation none of us have been in before, and things are changing day by day. Yesterday, the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in Williamsburg.
Last night, WUU staff, board, and safety team members held a group video call with two of our medical professionals to discern the next steps in our congregational efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, while staying connected in safe ways. In keeping with recommendations from our Unitarian Universalist Association, here are some of the immediate measures we will be taking:
Sunday Mornings:
Beginning this Sunday, March 15, we will suspend in-person worship services and classes on Sunday mornings for at least a month, until it is safe to resume. Instead, we will offer online Sunday worship and social time.
This will be a big change for us! But, as public health experts have advised us all, acting now to cancel large in-person gatherings and practicing “social distancing” gives us our best hope of “flattening the curve”—containing the spread of the virus to a rate that will not overwhelm our health care system.
Therefore, with regret, we’ve decided it’s time to stop gathering on our campus for a while. But, we’re also excited about gathering virtually, and we hope you’ll be a part of that!
Here’s how it will work: starting right now, we’ll have one online-only worship service on Sundays at 10 a.m. I’ll be offering reflections, Austen will share wisdom stories, and Dave and other musicians will offer music.
Will it be the same? No. Will we miss seeing each other in person? Of course. But the technology available to us gives us some amazing tools to help stay connected even if we can’t be in the same room for a while. Here’s how you can take part:
- You can Livestream the service as usual (audio only) at https://wuu.org/.
- We’re also working on a video streaming option that would also be available at https://wuu.org/.
- Or—and this is what we recommend if you’re willing to try the technology—you can participate in the worship service using Zoom, a videoconferencing service that you can access from your smartphone, tablet, computer with microphone & camera, or regular phone. If you’ve never tried it before, Zoom is like “Skype meets the Brady Bunch,” with participants able to see each other’s faces in a grid configuration.
- For this coming Sunday, March 15 only, we’ll do a slightly abridged online worship service, followed by a virtual café conversation so that we can talk about what’s going on. Anyone joining by Zoom will be able to participate in the café conversation; Livestreamers will be able to listen in.
- Starting on Sunday, March 22, Zoom participants will also be able to join in a “virtual social hour” after the service, in smaller groups giving us all time to check in and support one another.
- Here’s how to use Zoom:
- You can join in the virtual service using a smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer (ideally with webcam and microphone), or regular phone.
- For smartphones, tablets, laptops, or desktop computers, click this link a little before 10 a.m. on Sundays: https://zoom.us/j/523214002 It’ll be the same link each week, and it will also be posted at https://wuu.org/. The first time you click on a Zoom link, it will prompt you to install a bit of software (for computers) or download an app (smartphones or tablets). Click here for a quick video to learn how it works.
- Or, if you’d like to join by phone, just dial 1-646-558-8656, a little before 10 a.m. You’ll hear a recorded voice asking you to enter the meeting ID, followed by the pound key. Please enter 523214002# and you should be connected.
- If you’d like to practice Zooming in, please join me for a Zoom practice session tomorrow (Saturday), March 14, at 11 a.m. I’ll be available online 11-11:30 a.m. for anyone who wants to give it a try. Just click the Zoom link or follow the call-in instructions above. If you get stuck, please call or text me at 703-282-8060 and I’ll give you a hand.
For now, we invite families to worship online together. We’re working on new options to support children, youth, and families and will announce them as they become available. If you have ideas, please let Austen know at austen@wuu.org.
By the way, you’ll be able to give financially to our Sunday offerings using our Text-to-Give number (757-500-0688) or the “Give Online” link at wuu.org. You can also mail checks to the WUU Office, 3051 Ironbound Road, Williamsburg, VA 23185. Your continuing financial support in these challenging times is deeply appreciated.
And we could use your help in making sure the word gets out to everyone. If you have friends in the congregation whom you know don’t use a computer, or don’t check their email very often, could you please call them and let them know about what’s happening on Sundays? And please drop me a note to let me know when you’ve done it. Our pastoral care team and I will be making plans for some special outreach to our folks who aren’t online. Thank you!
Also, we hope to be able to offer on-demand video recordings of the online Sunday services. We’ll keep everyone updated about that. By the way, big thanks to our AV team for leaping into action and helping us figure this all out. We are learning as we go!
Other Events, Groups, and Meetings
After extensive conversations, we have determined that the Winter Shelter week at WUU will go forward as planned, beginning this Sunday, March 15 and concluding on Sunday, March 22. And, our shelter coordinators need some help! We have been advised that anyone with the following conditions should not be volunteering at the shelter at this time:
- Diabetes
- Cardiovascular disease
- Pregnancy
- Over 70 with some health issues
- Immune compromised
If you need to cancel a shift, please contact shelter week coordinator Helen Hansen at helenfoxhansen@gmail.com. To all our younger folks: can you help cover shifts for those who have been advised not to volunteer? Click here for the signup link or email Helen directly. Thank you so much.
We have also determined that our Saturday renters, the Church of God, will be allowed to meet on our campus this Saturday, March 14. After that, all large-group events on campus will be cancelled for the time being.
For now, we ask that leaders of small groups, committees, ministry teams, and classes move your gatherings online, too, to the best of your ability. Rachel McCabe in the office can set you up to use our WUU Zoom account so that you can host video meetings with everyone participating from home. If you’d like to give that a try, please contact Rachel at office@wuu.org.
If online gatherings are too challenging for your group to implement, small groups of no more than 10 people may continue to meet in our main building, as long as you gather in a room large enough to allow for at least 3 feet of spacing between participants. Please also keep following best-practice precautions: wash your hands frequently, refrain from shaking hands or hugging, and do not come if you are feeling unwell.
Caring for One Another
Though we can’t come together in person on Sundays for a while, we’ll be setting up lots of opportunities to stay connected:
- Our Caring Team and Lay Pastoral Care Associates will be working with me to stay in touch with members of the WUU community who may need extra help. If you need help, or know of someone who does, please email me at revlaura@wuu.org or our Caring Team at caring@wuu.org. Please let us know if you have decided or are ordered to self-quarantine and whether you might need any food or other supplies while staying home. Also let us know if you are ill, have tested positive, and/or have been hospitalized.
- Using Zoom, I plan to set up regular online drop-in gatherings for anyone who wants to connect, check in, get support, and offer support to one another. We’ll announce more details soon in the weekly Spiral email.
If you have other ideas about how we can stay connected as a community, or if you’d like to to help, please reach out to me at revlaura@wuu.org. We’ll keep everyone posted on ways to connect each week.
WUU Office and Staff
For now, our office staff will be working either at WUU as usual or at home, as they choose. For now, we will discontinue regular in-person office hours. But we’ll still be available to connect and help you as usual—just please email or call us (757-220-6830) rather than dropping by. (Feel free to leave messages for any of us in our WUU office voicemail boxes; they’ll be automatically emailed to us wherever we are.)
As always, please let us know how we can help, and what questions you may have. We’ll continue to keep you informed as things evolve.
These are challenging times, to be sure, but we will lean on each other, and we will learn a lot about how to “do community” in new and maybe even exciting ways. This is a beloved community, and we are all in this together—let’s take care of one another with kindness, love, and comfort.
With love and in faith,
Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig