Coronavirus and UUCE

Updated 2/5/2023

The church is open for both in-person and online worship.  We are using these sites to monitor local and national pandemic conditions:  The People’s CDC and CDC Covid Data Tracker for Lane County

Safe Gathering Guidance for all In-Person Events

*If you are immunocompromised, please weigh the risks and benefits of in-person
worship service. We hope these guidelines will help you to assess those risks.*

*If you aren’t feeling well or cannot comply with these guidelines, we respectfully
request that you join us via Zoom.*

  1. VACCINATION IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED:  If you are able to be vaccinated, please help to keep our community safe by keeping your vaccinations up to date. 
  2. MASKING: Masking is optional for all gatherings .  We continue to encourage the wearing of masks as a simple and effective way to prevent the transmission of disease. 
  3. ASK BEFORE HUGGING, TOUCHING: Please respect each other’s preferences about hugging, shaking hands, or holding hands.
  4. HVAC SYSTEM: Our upgraded air handling system will be turned on 1 hour prior to events and will run continuously until 1 hour after the event.  We will monitor the airflow using a CO2 meter every Sunday. 

On August 9, this was our Guideline: 

  1. VACCINATION IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED:  If you are able to be vaccinated, please help to keep our community safe by keeping your vaccinations up to date. 
  2. MASKS ARE REQUIRED: Disposable surgical masks are provided and required.  Your mouth and nose must remain covered while moving around inside the building.  Research has shown that K/N95 masks and surgical masks are superior to cloth masks, so please consider using those instead.  *Smaller groups and outside renters may choose to remove masks after arriving in their assigned room, if everyone consents.
  3. MAINTAIN SOCIAL DISTANCING:  Family members are welcome to sit next to each other, but we will ask that you leave 2 spaces between family units.
  4. ASK BEFORE HUGGING, TOUCHING: Please respect each other’s preferences about hugging, shaking hands, or holding hands.
  5. EATING & DRINKING: Beverages and snacks may be enjoyed throughout the week by groups using the church building.  For Sunday morning worship, we ask that eating, drinking, and socializing be done outdoors after worship.
  6. HVAC SYSTEM: Our upgraded air handling system will be turned on 1 hour prior to events and will run continuously until 1 hour after the event.
  7. SINGING DURING WORSHIP: Congregational singing has resumed—everyone must be masked. The choir has returned to the sanctuary and will be singing with masks on.

On August 7, we held a listening to circle to hear feedback and gain consent for changing our guidelines from “vaccination expected” to “vaccination strongly recommended”.  All who were present consented to this change. 

On May 1, we held another listening circle following the service to see if it is time to adjust some of our guidelines as our community risk level changes. We discussed masking requirements in large and small gatherings and different perspectives from amongst the congregation. 

We began multi-platform worship on February 20, with multitudes of mitigation strategies in place. As our local risk levels change over time, these gathering guidelines will change to reflect safe practices and our current case loads.