Dear WUU Community,
We are writing to share an update to WUU’s on-campus Covid-19 safety guidelines. We’ve heard from several WUUs who have a strong desire to gather outdoors unmasked on the WUU campus. In this season of pleasant temperatures, they would like to create opportunities for the WUU community on campus to gather without masks and enjoy food and drink together. Knowing that many of us are deeply wearied by the isolation and disconnection of these Covid times, we’ve decided to try this experiment and have updated our guidelines to allow for on-campus outdoor gatherings without masks. Each outdoor event organizer will be empowered to decide on the safety protocols they will use, and will be asked to communicate those protocols when they schedule the event.
Going forward, we encourage everyone to participate at WUU in ways that are right for them. As we say each Sunday morning: all are worthy and all are welcome. Of course, not everyone can be vaccinated yet; some people are immunocompromised; some work or live with people at high risk; some are not vaccinated for different reasons; and some simply choose to not participate in person at this time for myriad personal reasons. So let’s keep experimenting with lots of ways for people to be together, whether it’s on Zoom, in-person groups with masks, or unmasked outdoor events for those comfortable taking that risk. We encourage you to monitor CovidActNow for real-time information on levels of risk in our area.
Meanwhile, we’re hopeful that the overall level of risk in our area will drop soon. We can’t wait for the day—hopefully very soon—when we’ll be able to safely reopen the sanctuary for in-person worship. And we celebrate with families that children aged 5-11 will be able to be vaccinated this fall, with our youngest children not too far behind.
We also plan to meet with our WUU Board to review how our Covid safety decision-making process is going. We’re noticing an uptick in frustration with the current guidelines and decision-making criteria among those who have shared feedback with us recently. We’re also concerned about the heightened levels of stress that members of the reopening and public health advisory task forces have experienced recently as we seek to navigate the diverse needs and preferences of our congregational community. Please keep the feedback coming, and know that we appreciate every bit of kindness that you can bring to the table as we move forward together.
In faith and with love,
Your Reopening Task Force
Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Kerry Mellette, Austen Petersen, Susan Walkley, Lola Warren, and Dave Wilcox
P.S. from Rev. Laura: Hello, WUU community! I wanted to add a quick note to let you know that I won’t be able to join in unmasked gatherings right now because of my family situation. My husband John is a massage therapist who works with immunocompromised people, so for now we’re both minimizing our exposure to any situations where people are unmasked. But I’m grateful for all the ways we can gather as we are able. Take care, stay safe, and be well.