Welcome Back!

Worship is happening again at the meetinghouse. We venture back on August 1st and will continue if we can. We have already stuck a toe in the water. Candlelight worship went back on June 23rd and resumed its regular 2nd Wednesday evening schedule on July 14.

Sitting in worship with Friends in that oh-so-familiar place almost feels as if 16 months of exile never happened. But it is a new beginning for us and how well it will go is a bit uncertain. Will everyone come back? Will we see the faces of Friends who have not been with us all this time on Zoom?

We are planning to keep our Zoom platform. Friends want to continue holding Meetings for Learning on Zoom for now, although that may change once we are more confident that the pandemic is over and we can safely squeeze into the cozy space of our Boaz Library.

On the second Sunday in August we are going to try holding meeting for worship with attention to business as a hybrid meeting – some of us at the meetinghouse, others on Zoom. Friends may choose to attend either way. Only one computer will be logged in from the meeting room to avoid audio feedback. So there will be fewer squares on the Zoom screen with all of us at the meetinghouse represented by just one square.

Candlelight worship will continue to be an in-person meeting only, just as it has always been. Meeting for Learning will continue just on Zoom for now and noon worship will continue on Zoom indefinitely. That may be a lot to keep up with, but the venues will be clearly stated on the calendar page and in the email invitations you receive before each event.

At worship on August 1, both the kitchen door and the back door off the collection room will be unlocked so that Friends may avoid congestion in the narrow kitchen entryway. We expect numbers to be small at first so social distancing should be easy. We won’t be shaking hands when worship ends. We are following CDC recommendations so we are requesting that those attending wear masks. Friends who are unvaccinated are encouraged to worship with us virtually while we weather this Delta variant. See you at the meetinghouse and online!