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I am delighted to share exciting news!  At a special called meeting, the Official Board unanimously approved recommendations and guidelines for reopening Union Avenue Church as recommended by the Reopen Task Force.  Starting Sunday, June 6, we will meet in person every Sunday at the church — sometimes meeting indoors in the gallery and other times meeting outdoors. Masked, congregational singing will return to in-person services, along with special music. These guidelines extend through summer 2021, with a return to worship in the sanctuary planned for Homecoming Sunday, September 12, and will include updated recommendations if needed. Watch for more details about specific activities by date in each week’s “In the Life of Our Church.” 

Task Force members brought a range of perspectives (parents, healthcare professionals, choir, worship, fellowship, church administration) and consulted highly respected sources, including especially the Centers for Disease Control.  They devoted hours of deliberation “toward new and innovative avenues to foster the worship and fellowship experiences members desired that could be supported within a safe environment.” In brief, the recommendations call for:

  • Encouraging vaccinations

  • Masking indoors and outdoors for all except children younger than two

  • Social distancing maintained at three feet

  • Keeping Sunday school classes virtual (but with earlier start times)

  • Continuing to provide YouTube and Facebook video compilation of Sunday Services

  • Moving worship time to 11:00 am, allowing people to travel to church after virtual Sunday school.

You can access the Task Force’s report by clicking on this link.  

Members of the Board expressed their appreciation for recommendations that are science-based, cautious, feasible, respectful, and inclusive.  Masking requirements reflect the Task Force’s awareness that individuals differ in their comfort to potential exposure and the fact that young children remain unvaccinated.  A cautious approach helps us include families and those who remain hesitant to abandon masks.  We will welcome all, providing masks to those who come without.  We will offer new communion and offering protocols, provide hand sanitizer pumps, deploy fogger system sanitization and air circulation, and offer badges or wristbands to signal receptivity to hugs. Regardless of vaccination status, persons will only enter within someone else’s personally preferred space after receiving their expressed consent.

I want to express deep gratitude to the Co-Chairs of the Reopen Task Force, Kathy Davis and Britani Chase.  Every Sunday we will be in-person — indoors or outdoors — at the church.  Members were Ron Lindsey, Samantha Regino, Bob Settle, Karen Tye, and Reverend Michael Riggs, ex officio.  They accepted one of the most consequential tasks in our recent church life and delivered a timely, thoughtful, science-based report that positions us to extend hospitality and respect to members and visitors. Please join me in expressing your gratitude. 

We welcome your ideas and your work toward creative ways to worship, serve, and fellowship together safely this summer. See you in church, Sunday June 6!

— Enola Proctor, President of the Official Board