Dear WUU Community,
With Covid risk levels coming down in our local community, WUU will be reopening our doors for in-person worship on Sunday, Nov. 7!
We’ll continue with one service at 10 a.m., in our new hybrid format that welcomes in-person and online participants as one worshiping community. No matter where you are, you and your family can experience the Sunday service in community.
This coming Sunday, Oct. 31, we’ll still be online-only, but our worship leaders and AV team will all be in the sanctuary, streaming to Zoom, YouTube, and audio. It’ll be a chance for our worship leaders to practice our hybrid tech before we welcome folks into the sanctuary.
As of Nov. 7, here’s what you need to know about coming in person:
- After careful consideration, we have decided to restrict in-person participation to those who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19. This is a change for WUU since our summer watch parties, but one we believe will help protect the whole community.
For now, this means that children’s religious education classes and activities will continue online on Sunday mornings, and in person at other times. We can’t wait until younger kids are vaccinated, may it be soon! In the meantime, to see the most up to date information on offerings for children and youth, please check out the religious education calendar.
- If you have any symptoms or have recently tested positive for Covid-19, or have been in recent close contact with anyone with suspected or confirmed Covid-19, please stay home and enjoy the service online.
- Seating for worship will be distanced, with six feet between each household. Please practice social distancing during social times as well.
- One thing we’re still working on: Will you need to sign up in advance to attend in person? This weekend, our team will be in the sanctuary arranging chairs to maximize our safe, distanced seating capacity. Once we know what our capacity is, we’ll decide on whether a sign-up system is needed. You can expect to hear from us about that no later than Thursday in the Spiral weekly email. If we do go with sign-ups, it’ll be quick and easy–no logins or passwords needed.
- Well-fitting masks are required for everyone inside the building. No food or drink is permitted inside, with the exception of quick sips of water.
For everyone’s protection, worship leaders will stay masked as well. This may make things more challenging for people who are hard of hearing, so we’re launching two new tools to help:
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- You can sign up to request weekly emails with full text of most worship services, sent to you a day or two before the service. Contact office@wuu.org to sign up.
- We are working to improve captioning on Zoom using a paid captioning service. This should represent a significant improvement on the free captioning currently available on our YouTube feed.
- After the service, you’ll be invited to move outdoors to chat with friends old and new. Outdoors, masks and distancing are encouraged but not required. For now, we’ll keep it simple with no food or drink provided.
Rev. Laura will be greeting in-person participants in the Gathering Hall right after the service, just inside the doors to the covered patio. About 10 minutes after the service ends, she’ll be moving into the office wing to get online and greet our Zoom participants as well.
And here’s what you need to know about participating online:
Many things will stay the same! You can still participate via Zoom, YouTube, audio stream, or podcast.
Zoom folks will notice a few changes as our worship leaders begin to speak from the pulpit again rather than their computers. But you’ll still be able to greet each other before the service begins, use the Zoom chat to communicate, and enjoy social time after the service with each other and Rev. Laura.
How can I help?
Thanks! If you’re planning on coming in person, please say yes when it’s your Hospitality Team’s month to serve on Sunday mornings. If you’re not on a hospitality team, or aren’t sure if you are, email hospitality@wuu.org.
If you’re planning on participating online, would you be open to serving as a Zoom hospitality volunteer? We’d like to form a team of folks to greet Zoom participants before the service, respond to questions in the Zoom chat, and help host social time after the service. If you’re interested, please contact the Membership Team at membershipchair@wuu.org.
But wait…what will happen if Covid case rates go up again?
Right now, James City County and York County are in the Orange zone on CovidActNow.org, with the City of Williamsburg just on the Red/Orange border and trending down. This is a big improvement from where we were even a few weeks ago.
If, on the Wednesday prior to any given Sunday, James City County, the City of Williamsburg, and/or York County are in the Red/Very High Risk zone, WUU will still keep our doors open for in-person worship, for those who are comfortable with that level of personal risk. But our minister and worship staff will be directed to lead worship from home via Zoom, so that staff don’t feel any pressure to take more risks than they are personally comfortable with. The in-person experience will be similar to the watch parties we offered this summer.
Then, once we get back to Orange and lower, our minister and worship staff will return to leading from the sanctuary.
I still have questions about what’s happening. How do I get answers?
For general reopening questions, suggestions, or concerns, please email reopening@wuu.org.
For questions about children and youth, please contact Austen Petersen, Director of Religious Education.
Thanks so much and hope to see you–in person or online–on Nov. 7!
In faith and with love,
Your Reopening Task Force
Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig
Kerry Mellette
Austen Petersen
Susan Walkley
Lola Warren
Dave Wilcox
And your WUU Board
Dave Banks
Allen Cooke
BethAnne Klaver
Katrina Landon
Kerry Mellette
Jessica O’Brien
Ben Puckett
Melissa Stump
Bruce Thomas