Guiding Principles
As the fall and our long-awaited hopes of a clear return to in-person worship, children, youth & family, music, small group, and faithful action ministries approaches, the Leadership Team at First Universalist Church has been leaning into our faith, following these guiding principles as we plan for the fall:
- We will base our decisions in reality (science, COVID realities, CDC and Minnesota Department of Health guidelines, and construction/building reality).
- We will model making faith-based decisions in public, centering the needs of the most vulnerable.
- We will soften our in-person plans in a way that reduces risk and anxiety and increases care.
- We will offer an accessible path to returning to the building and in-person gathering for those who can and wish to do so.
- We will set reasonable expectations and engage in sustainable practices together.
A Shift in Fall Plans
With our faith and these principles as our guide, we are shifting our plans for in-person gathering for the fall. Construction delays, a reassessment of when we’ll realistically be prepared to offer a welcoming and gracious return to worship in the sanctuary, and concerns about reopening as a fourth wave of COVID-19 hits Minnesota, have led us to change our plans for when we will gather again in our sanctuary, which we had previously communicated was tentatively scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 12.
Instead, on Sundays, Sept. 12 & 19, we will offer multigenerational worship in-person, offsite, in the church of the great outdoors. These services will also be available online later for on-demand streaming. On Sept.12 we will gather at the Lyndale Gardens Amphitheater and on Sept. 19 at Minnehaha Falls Park. Activities for children and youth will be offered outside during part of the service on the 19th.
Religious Education for older youth (grades 7-12) will begin in-person on Sept. 19 and will continue in-person through the year unless new direction from the CDC and the Minnesota Department of Health directs us differently.
Our sanctuary and social hall will open for in-person and live-streamed Memorial Services beginning on Saturday, Sept. 25.
Sunday services will be live-streamed from the church building beginning on Sunday, Sept. 26, but we will not be gathering in-person for Sunday services in September, nor likely the month of October.
We hope for an in-person and online celebration of our renovated building and our re-gathered community on Sunday, Nov. 7. Religious Education classes for grades 6 and under will likely begin that Sunday, too.
We know these changes to our communal plans can feel hard, and we hope they will also feel like a relief as we make our way forward in unprecedented times, keeping our faith and our care for each other and our larger community as our guide.
