March 13, 2020
To all the beloved people of UUFM—
We find ourselves in uncertain times, when a tiny virus reveals just how interconnected we are with each other and the entire world. Yet the virus is not itself our interdependence; it is not the measure of our connection. The virus is nothing like the love and relationship that binds us each to each other.
Last night the Fellowship’s leadership—the Board and Staff—made the decision to cease all face-to-face activities at the congregation, including worship on Sundays and beginning this Sunday, March 15. It was a painful but necessary decision to increase our physical “social distancing” so as to decrease the likelihood that COVID-19 will spread in our community. This Leadership decision protects the health of our most fragile congregants, and it also protects the health of our larger community. And this larger community includes our local healthcare system and healthcare professionals. The fewer cases in our region, the better the system and professionals can care for the sick and level out strain on the delivery of treatment.
In making this decision, we consulted the guidance of the UUA (https://www.uua.org/pressroom/press-releases/updated-recommendations-your-congregations-response-covid-19)and the actions of other Unitarian Universalist congregations in The Cities. Rev. Rita is also communicating regularly with a group of ministers in Mankato and North Mankato. We look to the best possible advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC https://www.cdc.gov/) and the World Health Organization (WHO https://www.who.int/), as well as the Minnesota Department of Health (https://www.health.state.mn.us/), on the potential spread of the virus. We will look also to our local emergency management professionals.
Though we will not be meeting face-to-face in the coming days, Leadership is working on ways for us to stay connected and spiritually nourished. Here are the plans currently in place. Stay tuned for more information:
- Our Office Administrator, Linda Ganske, the Treasurer John Knox, and the Board will be working to ensure that the financial and material solvency of the congregation continues.
- Our Worship Staff—Rev. Rita, Children’s Faith Development Director Macey Forsyth, and Choir Director Peter Kuhlman will be developing creative ways to bring inspiration, meditation, stories, activities, and music to you in multiple online formats.
- All Leadership will be ensuring that we develop a pastoral care system—including email, snail mail, texting, phone calling, and social media—that will sustain us as a community in these hard times. Rev. Rita will continue to provide face-to-face pastoral care.
Contact Rev. Rita or Tony with your questions and concerns. And if you received this letter by email, it would be a great help if you would send a reply back. This way, we will know that the information reached you and if we need to reach out to other folks in different ways.
Finally, this Sunday we were to hold our Eat for ECHO luncheon. Though we will not hold that event, ECHO’s need for food is only growing. If you are able, please make a donation to UUFM, with “Eat for ECHO” in the memo line or make the donation directly to ECHO Food Shelf. Your generosity ensures that the most vulnerable among us can preserve their dignity and sustain their families in challenging times.
So, dear ones, contact us with your needs and concerns, and with your creative ways to keep us connected as a loving people. Take care of yourselves and take care of your neighbors, as you remember, today and every day, that you are loved, you are worthy, you are welcome, and you are needed. May you feel it so, and may it be so. Amen and amen.
Blessings to you all,
Rita A Capezzi Tony Filipovitch
The Rev. Dr. Rita Capezzi, on behalf of Staff: Mr. Tony Filipovitch, on behalf of the Board:
Macey Forsyth, Linda Ganske, and Peter Penny Herickhoff, Faye Mattison, John Knox,
Kuhlman Tricia Nienow, Andy Roberts, Tom Little, and
Nancy Cramblit