COVID-19 Update 18 Mar 2020

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We are seeing an increase in scams attempting to take advantage of people’s anxiety and fear during this time. Please doublecheck the email address of any message you receive asking for your information, for money, for gift cards, etc. Rev. Meghann will ONLY ever contact you via her church email address, and if the ask appears to be coming from a lay leader or other UU community member (including nationally), be cautious. Make phone calls, if needed.

Rev. Meghann is following the guidance of public health leaders across the globe and self-isolating, even though she has no current symptoms. We know now that someone can be a contagious carrier of this virus and remain asymptomatic for weeks. Due to this, Rev. Meghann will be working from home and will continue the many facets of ministry that serve our congregation, even as we are adapting to this new reality for all of us. You can reach her on her mobile phone by call or text (204.809.3656), by email (minister@uuwinnipeg.mb.ca), or by scheduling a meeting using Zoom. The easiest way to schedule a meeting is to use her Calendly page: http://calendly.com/pegcityrev . Her cell phone is also listed on her outgoing church voicemail message for those who do not have internet access.

Should you be experiencing an emergency — a hospitalization, someone actively dying, etc. — please do not hesitate to call or text Rev. Meghann on her mobile phone (204.809.3656).

STAFFING UPDATE: Rev. Meghann has instructed all staff to work from home except for Pamela Johnson (our office administrator), and Ray Aikens and Ken Nicholson (our custodians). The choice to have Pamela continuing working from the office was made after a detailed discussion with her about how to continue doing her job effectively while also protecting her from exposure. She has been adamant that this is the best way to continue serving the church in her position. Rev. Meghann will continue to monitor the situation and be in conversation with our staff and our Board.

During this time, the staff will continue to connect with each other on our regular meeting and supervision schedule by Zoom. They also have a Slack workspace for text communication that has been used since 2017, so there is no significant change in that respect.

At the Board meeting last night, the Board also authorized payment for the regular, reliable shifts for our hourly workers through April 12. For our childcare workers, that means the Sunday morning shifts that were scheduled through Sunday, April 12. For our event supervisors, that means the scheduled shifts through April 12 for our three regular monthly renters that have a supervisor. Our Board was clear in their discernment that this was the ethical action to take. Further months will be evaluated at the next meeting, based on the current situation and the resources available within our congregation and also from the provincial and federal governments. 

SUNDAY SERVICES: We are suspending in-person worship services and post-service activities; we will stream our services instead for the time being.

We will have our Candles of Caring ritual included in our online Church Service. So if you have a candle you want us to share please send it to our Pastoral Care Team at pastoralcare@uuwinnipeg.mb.ca before 9:00 am Sunday morning. 

Please submit your congregational announcements to worship@uuwinnipeg.mb.ca before 9:00 am Sunday morning.

Links to words and music used in the online services will be added, when available, to the service’s archive page on our website. Last Sunday’s service archive page can be found here: https://uuwinnipeg.mb.ca/services/a-love-story/

CONNECTING: This time of isolation can be very hard, especially when we don’t have a known end date. We are developing many ways to connect – including drop-in casual conversations via Zoom, online story times, virtual coffee hours, playing games together, and more. If you have ideas or wish to help, please reach out to Rev. Meghann by call, text, or email (see above).

Phone Tree: Our Pastoral Care Team is creating a phone tree so that everyone can stay connected to information and community regardless of access to computer technology and internet. We are encouraging EVERYONE to participate in the phone tree, even if you are also able to connect via our online programming. Please contact Pastoral Care at pastoralcare@uuwinnipeg.mb.ca to sign up.

 

Zoom Connections this week:

Drop-In Community Chat, Thursday, March 19th, 1-2pm

Just click the Zoom link below and join the conversation! Much like Brewed Awakenings, this is a casual conversation space with no topics and no agendas. Everyone needs to eat lunch, so whether you’re still at a workplace or at home, Zoom allows for us to connect with other no matter the location.

Talking About Our Money Taboos and Traumas, Sunday, March 22nd 1-2:30pm

Learning how to live into our values with our financial resources as well as our hearts and minds is often fraught. Rev. Meghann will facilitate this listening and sharing circle for discussing what we’ve internalized about money, and how we can discover what each of us has to offer without perpetuating cycles of shame.

How to join either or both(!) of these Zoom conversations: