I know that most of you are tracking the impact of the new Omicron Variant of the Covid Virus and the dramatically increased rates of infections that now are present even here in Portland.

On Tuesday, after meeting with our Public Health Team to review the situation and assess the risks, we decided that First Unitarian will discontinue in-person worship, beginning this Sunday, January 9. The wisdom of the Public Health Team and every analysis I have read indicates that this should be a short hiatus rather than a prolonged period. One Public Health Team member mentioned 2 months. At this point, we are not committing to an end date. We will monitor the situation carefully and offer in-person worship as soon as it is safe to do so.

There is real sadness in making this decision. It has been so wonderful to have congregants in the sanctuary, even masked and in relatively small numbers. Those of us who lead worship will miss your presence greatly. We are all worn thin or worn out by this pandemic. Another forced hiatus from being together in person feels like a real blow.

The truth is, however, that members of the congregation were already taking increased concern for safety into account.  Only 27 individuals signed up ahead of time to attend worship last Sunday, with another handful of folks who registered at the door.  Given the dramatic spike in infection rates over the last week, up almost 100%, I doubt that we would have had half that number this coming Sunday.

The permitted number of individuals in the sanctuary to maintain reasonable safety (based on the model developed by our Public Health Team) has dropped from 214 two weeks ago, to 127 last week, to 56 this week. That is another lens to use confirming the need for this decision.

The transmissibility of the Omicron variant is such that the Public Health Team has also asked that other gatherings be temporarily discontinued. This includes the choirs, YRUU, OWL classes and other church meetings. We had already determined to delay the re-gathering of the Learning Community in person, scheduled for this coming Sunday.

The Public Health Team asked me specifically to urge all members of our community who are eligible to get vaccinated and boosted. They also urge us all to upgrade the masks we wear to the N95/KN95 quality.

We need to take safety particularly seriously for the next 8 weeks or so. Hopefully, then, the path out of pandemic life and into whatever the new normal may look like will begin to clarify.

Stay Safe. See you in church…on line.

Bill