Our in-person Sunday worship in the Sanctuary requires masks for all and social distancing. We will continue to follow local, state, and federal guidelines. We are trying to balance a need for people to see one another to maintain healthy emotional mental health and simultaneously keep people safe from the recent surge of Omicron infections in our county.
For those who are not comfortable to come to an in-person worship and until we are able to live stream, a condensed version of the worship will be made available on the Sunday afternoon following the service. Simply log onto our website “watsonville1stumc.org” and on the front Home Page click on either Facebook or YouTube.
We are adding additional safe measures for in-person worship and other church gatherings due to a recent surge in the Omicron variant infection rate in our county. Until further notice from the leadership of the church, following rules and recommendations will be in place.
There will be NO Coffee Hour gathering in the Social Hall following worship. We will resume our delightful Coffee Hour when the infection rate subsides and it’s safe to do so.
All committee meetings will be done only through online zoom meetings.
Choir rehearsals will be put on hold until it is safe to resume.
We recommend upgrading your mask to a higher quality mask like N-95 or double cloth masks (e.g. surgical mask inside of cloth mask) because it will give added protection from the highly infectious Omicron variant. The federal government is shipping 400 million FREE N-95 masks to local pharmacies and community health centers all across the nation to be distributed to people.
Avoid handshakes. Avoid reaching out for a handshake to people. It’s awkward to refuse your offer of a handshake. Instead, we recommend elbow touch or even better, from a safe distance greet with the word “Namaste” with your hands together in prayer which means the divine in me greets the divine in you.
Get tested for Covid if you suspect you might be exposed to someone who is infected.
The research has shown that one can be infected with Covid even when one is fully vaccinated, boosted, and show no signs of Covid symptoms. If you get a notice from work or school that you were in proximity with someone who is tested positive with Covid, please get tested ASAP to protect yourself and others. In abundance of caution, please avoid going to gatherings until you get your negative test result.
Free COVID test kits are NOW available – 4 per household per month. You can order them HERE!
I see the light at the end of the tunnel after third year into the pandemic. The data has shown that in states and countries that first had Omicron surge is seeing 40% to 50% drop off rate after about a month. I hope and pray that this might be the last leg of the Covid run. I might be naïve but I have my fingers crossed. No harm in dreaming, heh?! Lol. This has been an unprecedented pandemic that we haven’t seen in 100 years. It has taken a toll on our mental health and lives. But we are all in this together. This, too, shall pass. Meantime, let us keep the faith and continue to live a life of abundance and joy in Christ.
Show Up, Trust, You’ll Be Blessed!
Thank you all for your patience and cooperation.
Sincerely,
Leadership of Wats1st UMC
