Happy Holidays to all of you in this wonderful – yet sometimes stressful – time of year. The holidays can be a beautiful time full of connection and gatherings. But for some it can also be a time of concern, isolation, and trepidation.

Your COVID Task Force met on Dec. 8 to discuss guidelines, talk about upcoming holiday events, and review the current statistics in our area. It was decided that we would keep the guidelines as they are for now, with special exceptions for the Holiday Party and Christmas Brunch.

Leaving the guidelines as they are (see full guidelines on the website here) means that we are still not eating or drinking at church-wide events, and masks are strongly recommended.

We know that there are a great deal of feelings on both sides. Some people want it to all go away, and some want us to remain careful. We hope that we all can remind ourselves to open our hearts to all ways of feeling without judgement. This means those who choose not to mask are within guidelines, as are people who always mask no matter what.

We are seeing increased COVID numbers since Thanksgiving, and additional surges of RSV and respiratory illnesses. The Task Force reviewed the guidelines of many other UU churches, and found they are mostly similar to UUCCH.

In the spirit of the open-hearted approach, we agreed to not change the guidelines, offering people the chance to make choices they are comfortable with. This includes choosing to wear a mask in church or not, to attend church in person or not, or to zoom services or not.

We hope your holidays will be both connective and safe!