COVID-19 update from our Board

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Dear First UU Winnipeg Community,

After deep thought and careful consideration, this evening we, as the elected Board of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Winnipeg, have a plan that we are confident will engage proper precautions and online technology to protect our community, without sacrificing our community in the process.

FUUW’s Plans for Worship, Programs, and Services

As approved by the Board of Directors, these plans are valid as of March 13, 2020, and may change at any time; we will remain in touch with you throughout this pandemic, and the Board, the Minister, and the Staff will assess regularly.

Worship: We are suspending in-person worship services and post-service activities; we will stream our services instead.

Committees, Teams, Programming: Unless absolutely necessary, conduct business via email OR choose to meet online. Contact our office administrator, Pamela (office@uuwinnipeg.mb.ca), to book our Zoom room for online meetings.

Lifespan Faith Development: Sunday morning children and youth religious exploration, including OWL, is cancelled for the foreseeable future until we can determine if we can adapt it to an online format. Other faith development offerings that are scheduled will be adapted for online classes or postponed. Your class/workshop leader(s) will be in contact with you soon if you are registered for one of these offerings.

Pastoral Care:

  • For non-urgent pastoral care and conversations, Rev. Meghann is available by phone, email, and Zoom, and will continue the many facets of ministry that serve our congregation. You can reach her on her office line (204.474.1261×1), her cell phone by call or text (204.809.3656) or by email (minister@uuwinnipeg.mb.ca). The easiest way to schedule a meeting by phone or Zoom is to use her Calendly page: http://calendly.com/pegcityrev .
  • Non-urgent care is currently restricted to phone and Zoom so that Rev. Meghann can remain out of quarantine in order to be physically available for urgent pastoral needs and emergencies without risking infecting vulnerable members of our community. Should you be experiencing such 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).
  • Please let us know if you have decided to or are ordered to self-quarantine and whether you might need any food or other supplies while staying home. Also let us know if you are ill, have tested positive, and/or have been hospitalized. You may reach out to our Pastoral Care Team at pastoralcare@uuwinnipeg.mb.ca .
  • We are also developing many other 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 phone (office or mobile) or email.

Rentals:

  • We are suspending building rentals for the next two weeks, and making decisions about the future on a two week basis going forward. This will, of course, cut into our operating capital, but, we want to make sure that we live into our principles regarding the health of our staff and the health of people attending gatherings.
  • Many of our existing monthly/weekly clients have already cancelled their gatherings for public health safety.
  • We are talking with two of our clients, who perform services that cannot be postponed, but who also work with vulnerable populations. We are taking their advice for their own use, and will follow all guidelines for group sizes and spaces as required by Health Canada and the province.

As always, please let us know how we may be of assistance, and what questions you may have. Thank you for your understanding as we take these steps. We will keep you informed of any changes via our website (uuwinnipeg.mb.ca), email, Facebook page, all-church email, and telephone. If you need to contact the Board, you can email our Board President, Lauren Bailey, at president@uuwinnipeg.mb.ca .

Know this: First UU Winnipeg is not closed. Our community is caring and alive.  We are not bound by brick and mortar walls. Please reach out and care for each other as often as possible.

In gratitude,

your First Unitarian Universalist Church of Winnipeg Board of Directors