This is no small thing.

We have experienced a lot in a very short period of time. In case it is a blur, here’s a brief re-cap:

In the March 3 issue of Circuits, we shared some important practices for keeping ourselves healthy amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. (It was not yet declared a pandemic.) We named that aspects of the worship service would be changing and protocols for hygiene were being increased for religious education.

At the Mar 4 staff meeting, we instructed custodial staff to acquire as much hand sanitizer, tissues, t.p. and necessary disinfecting wipes as possible and to prepare to make the rounds all Sunday morning to wipe door handles, etc. in both buildings. We instructed program staff to prepare to work from home.

On Sunday, Mar 8, the greeters were asked to not shake hands or hug folks. The ushers stood at the tops of the stairs at the end of the service rather than pass the baskets. And the beverage servers did not serve beverages. We had hung hand washing signs all over 1221 and also in every bathroom in Waters House. Lynn introduced the parody of Wash, Wash, Whomever You Are during the time for all ages.

As the Board Policy Book and the Church Bylaws don’t actually address global health crises, we had a conversation with the Board. On Monday, Mar 9, the Board of Trustees confirmed that the Co-ministers, in their role as Heads of Staff with the authority and responsibility to manage the work and resources of the church, should make the call for when to cancel programs, stop in-person worship, and/or close the buildings.

In the March 10 issue of Circuits, we acknowledged the changes in worship, invited you to pay attention to your feelings in coping with the rapid changes all around us, and suggested reaching out to care for one another.
In the Mar 11 Staff Meeting, we reminded folks of hand washing, expressed a strong likelihood that in-person worship would likely cease soon and to make arrangements to begin working from home, to adjust work responsibilities and projects accordingly, and to watch for more information as the week unfolded. That day, two folks in Albany were confirmed testing positive with coronavirus. Later a case was confirmed at Union College.

On Thursday March 12, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic. We prepared a communication plan, communicated with the necessary Sunday morning staff, board, and volunteers, as well as folks who were hosting anything that Th, F, or S that they were being cancelled or moved to an online platform. We created a special Circuits issue to let you all know of the no in-person, on-site gatherings through Apr. 5, 3pm.

On Friday, Mar 13, we shared a video with you all about this news. We began preparations and adjustments for leading worship online.

On Sat. Mar 14, Lynn hosts a Zoom training. We also host a #UU the Vote event on Zoom to kick-off the campaign.

On Sun Mar 15, Rosie Lewis and Rev. Wendy led the first online service. We had 86 households from 3 states (NY, CA, AK) and 3 countries (U.S., Mexico, and Belgium). It was great to see your faces, hear your voices, and to be together-physical distancing and social re-imagining.

We begin identifying leaders of spiritual practice in the congregation and over the next few days invite Mati H. to lead yoga and Tamara G. to lead meditation.

On Mon Mar 16, we began the onslaught of webinars, increasing Zoom bandwidth, meetings with regional and denominational staff, research, and Facebook commiserating with religious professionals from all over the country. Wendy also began curating a google doc for worship resources that can be used, live-streamed, and recorded for colleagues to use in various settings. Several hundred folks have contributed and/or used this resource in creating worship and religious education opportunities in the past couple of weeks.

In the Tue. Mar 17 issue of Circuits we affirmed the gathering of folks that Sunday and also reminded us all to pace ourselves, that this was going to be a long haul journey. We increased Zoom’s capacity to 500 households so all who wanted to join on Sundays, could. The webinars, training, learning, research, and curating continued.
Wed. Mar 18 Schenectady Clergy Against Hate met on Zoom and wondered how we might serve the local area. An idea for a video was explored.

The country’s administration continues to flounder. Gov. Cuomo emerges as a leader and pro-active agent for flattening the curve.

Friday Mar 20, Gov. Cuomo issues PAUSE.

On Sun Mar 22, Kim Kilby, Bryan Cherry, Dan Leonard, Tim and Susie Olsen, and Rev. Lynn led a lovely service on what we let go and what we’ve carried with us from prior religious affiliations. Over 130 households joined from four countries (U.S., Belgium, Mexico, and Holland), one territory (Puerto Rico) and three states (NY, CA, NV). We experiment with break-out rooms and host a budget forum.

Mon. Mar 23-it snowed 7″. LoL. We shared a brief video on Facebook checking in on y’all. More learning (gosh our brains are tired), more pastoral care and reaching out to folks in the congregation, adjustments made to the stewardship campaign timing, etc).

On Thurs. Mar 26, Schenectady Clergy Against Hate posted a video of care, prayer, and healing and decide to host a live streaming event Apr. 2. (see info later in Circuits)

Friday Mar 27 Kristin C. hosts another Zoom training. Sat. we have another UU the Vote zoom meeting. UUSS staff continue to care for the buildings and grounds, to attend to the various program ministries, and to make sure various things are attended to as possible.

Sun. Mar 29 There is another budget forum. We have over 140 households from northern CA, southern CA, NV, NY, Belgium, Holland, and the U.S. join in for online worship, and we continue to love seeing and hearing one another as we worship in this new way. This is a steep learning curve and each week we learn how to do something new, how to improve something, and we will keep reciting the mantra of ‘connection not perfection.’

Mon Mar 30, we met with Board President Sara Meixner to continue to discern how best to move forward with congregational life.

And here we are-so much has changed. And the virus continues to impact us. We know some of you are worried about or have already lost loved ones. Keep washing those hands. Keep not touching your face. Keep staying home. Mad-Eye Moody, a character from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, refers to the importance of ‘CONSTANT VIGILANCE.’ We may grow weary of these changes and slide back into old habits. Resist. Stay conscious. Use constant vigilance when handling your groceries, mail, kids, pets, and one another. Get outside if you can. Everyday. Bring yourself back to your breath if it all starts to get too much. Noticing the breath as it comes in and as it leaves. Breathing in peace. Breathing out love.

We are in a global pandemic crisis. We are triaging and prioritizing as best we can while recognizing that we all need to pace ourselves, that all of us are experiencing some level of trauma. Be gentle with yourselves. Be gentle with your loved ones. Be gentle with us.

You and We have reached the end of the month.

That is no small thing.

Take care of yourselves. Take care of one another.

In faith and with care,
Rev. Wendy and Rev. Lynn