Notes From the Board

Your Board of Directors wants you to know how UFP is staying on top of COVID-19 (even if you are probably as tired as we are of hearing about it).

The first thing you should know is that there is a COVID-19 Committee that is responsible for monitoring changing conditions and recommending actions to the board. This committee has been very busy this week with the latest announcements from the Ontario Government.

As you have certainly seen, we have been holding virtual Sunday services over Zoom since March 15. Our amazing technical team has learned a lot about Zoom since we started and continues to improve every week. The team has expanded over time so that the work does not all fall to the same few people.

We continue to run our virtual services with a central location in the sanctuary and other people joining in from home. Reverend Julie and Linda Clark are present in the sanctuary but they are positioned so that they are further apart than the recommended 2 metres.

We continue to work with Reverend Julie and Linda to ensure a safe environment for the Sunday services. At the same time it is important to allow them the flexibility to create the best online experience for those watching and listening from home. Face coverings are in place most of the time and we are working to create plexiglass screening to create an additional barrier.

You may also know that Reverend Julie works most of the time from her office in the Fellowship. The COVID-19 Committee has reviewed this with Julie and feel confident that it conforms to the current “Emergency Stay at Home Orders”. Other staff and volunteers work primarily from home with infrequent, short trips to the office so there is almost no interaction between people. Furthermore there is a “Workplace Safety Plan” in place documenting the measures we have in place.

Finally, we previously announced that we would not be resuming in person services before the end of January. Given current conditions, and in light of responses to December’s survey, our message is now that we will not reopen until it is safe to do so and we don’t foresee that happening before late Spring or September.

Please feel secure that the COVID-19 committee is monitoring changes carefully and that we will keep you posted about any developments and how they influence us.

Thanks to everyone for your continued commitment to safety and to our community.

Guy Hanchet
705-875-4488

“Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. It is an axe you break down doors with in an emergency.” – Rebecca Solnit

In our last message to the congregation about reopening, the Board let you know that we would not reopen before October 4 at the earliest, and that we would update you in September. Well, it’s September, and the Board has decided that we will not be reopening for in-person Sunday services before January at the earliest. In addition to the potential risks, the elevator construction is making it impossible to meet in the building.
We recognize that this creates a continuing sense of loss of our familiar ways of gathering in community. We miss one another’s presence, and faces, and perhaps especially, singing together.
To address this,we are forming a team to work on how to reopen, when to reopen, and what we can do to maintain our sense of community while we wait for the right conditions. We heartily welcome your participation on this team, especially if you have an interest in finding alternative ways to meet, or have ideas about how to share music. Please contact Heather-Lynn if you’d like to help with this.
We expect over the fall to be imagining new features within our online Zoom meetings that allow for more participation, but which may require more technology. Anyone with an interest in exploring tech options or providing tech support (recording/editing/videography/etc) is encouraged to contact Ben Robins or Rev. Julie.