Exciting news! We all want to be able to offer and attend an in-person service on Christmas Eve at Murray UU Church. With the COVID-19 numbers going up in our area, the COVID-19 Task Force waited until this past Monday night to meet and make a recommendation to the Executive Board.
After much consideration, we recommended a limited, in-person service be offered in addition to a ZOOM option to attend the Christmas Eve service. However, there are protocols that we will follow.
You must preregister to attend the Christmas Eve Service in person. On Monday an e-mail blast will go out with the link to register.
Here is what you need to know if you plan on attending in person this year on Friday evening, December 24:
- Attendance in the sanctuary will be limited, but ZOOM is always an option
- The musical concert begins at 6:15 P.M.
- The service starts at 7 PM.
- Using the preregistration link that will go out on Monday, you can register your entire family and guests who plan to attend. We will do our best to seat you close together. You must list the names of all family members and guests attending and confirm that those eligible are vaccinated. Registration opens with the email blast on Monday 12/20 and closes at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 12/22. Please only register those family members who have committed to attend.
- All attendees must bring vaccination cards.
- No “walk-ins” unless they have vaccination cards. Walk-ins will be seated in Fellowship Hall to see and hear the service virtually. There will be Deacon & Deaconess ushers in Fellowship Hall to help as needed. This group will also receive battery-powered candles to use for the ending of the service in Fellowship Hall.
- All attendees must wear well-fitted masks. If you knot the ear loops, please knot them behind, not in front of your ears. This prevents the mask from bunching and not fitting correctly. We will have extra masks.
- All attendees must sanitize their hands on their way into the Sanctuary or Fellowship Hall.
- 6’ social distancing will be observed wherever possible
- All ventilation protocols will be used
- There are 30 units of seating (each unit is ½ pew). We will assign seating ahead of time to allow the greatest number of people into the service. This is why we need to have a final count by Wednesday, December 22. If we are into the overflow space when you register, we will contact you to let you know.
- If you decide, at the last minute NOT to attend, please call me at 508 463-6999 so we may reassign your reserved seats.
- Battery-powered candles will be used during Silent Night and attendees will stay in their assigned pews until the end of the service.
- Please leave row by row to avoid unnecessary contact with others.
Please have patience and help us by following these protocols. We truly hope these precautions will keep everyone safe from COVID-19 during our service, and that next Christmas Eve we will be back to a more normal, traditional service.