| We are resuming in-person worship in our sanctuary next Sunday, January 30, in addition to our weekly live streams on Facebook and Youtube. It looks like the Covid Omicron variant cases have peaked in the surrounding community and the rapid decrease in cases is forthcoming. We know this closure has been challenging for congregants in a variety of ways, and we appreciate all the flexibility and understanding you have been able to muster. The Regathering Team knows that each of us is committed to the well-being of our entire community. Our personal sense of comfort or safety may be very different from what other people in our congregation are feeling. We trust that you will continue to do all that you have been doing to remain connected with one another as we strive to balance everyone’s physical, social, emotional, and spiritual needs. We are implementing additional air filtration recommendations to maximize clean air movement. As a part of this some windows in the Sanctuary will be open during services. For the most part fans will be pushing air out of the open windows, but there will be some cooler spots in the sanctuary. Feel free to bring your coat with you. We want to be mindful of safe interactions while in the building. We ask that all participants in worship services wear masks that fit well, maintain distancing in the sanctuary (still sit on the blue “X”), and not congregate in aisles, hallways, stairways, or doorways. As always, if you are experiencing Covid symptoms, or have a recent Covid exposure please participate in worship via our live stream from home. We will again ask those attending in-person worship to check-in at services so that we can inform you if we learn of an exposure during a service. And of course inform a staff member or board member if you find you have Covid after attending a service so we know to inform those who attended. |
| Mask Wearing Information Of course, everyone’s safety continues to be a concern of all of us. We believe that wearing masks when we are together is the best way we can accomplish this. Omicron continues to be highly transmittable and appropriate masks are critical for keeping yourself and others safe. The following graphic from the Wall Street Journal shows the effectiveness of various types of mask combinations and the “safe” time for each combination. Because the data this chart came from was pre-Omicron please use it to determine what masks are best for you, but don’t rely on the actual times here – the reality of omicron is that these times are likely overstated. Double masking is also an option, a surgical mask covered by a cloth mask is better than either on their own. In all cases masks need to fit snugly. |
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| You can view the graphic here: View Graphic |