Sedona UU Fellowship resumed its in-person Sunday services on September 12th in the sanctuary at JCSVV. We have enjoyed meeting together again this year in their beautiful sanctuary with our new minister, Rev. Anthony Mtuaswa Johnson.

In consideration of the on-going pandemic, we introduced new safety measures, in addition to those implemented by the JCSVV (Jewish Community of Sedona & Verde Valley), for the benefit of everyone attending services at that location.

We anticipated that these changes would be temporary; our services in recent months have included additional live speakers, specifically readers at Sunday services and presenters at our Poetry Service and “SUUF and Me” Service, occasionally without wearing masks. As our A/V director, Susannah has been diligent in disinfecting the microphones between speakers sharing the same equipment.

We express our appreciation to our Covid Safety Team, consisting of Jim Loomis, chairperson, and current members Penny DeJarnette, Susannah Martin and Rev. Anthony Johnson. They have been monitoring the “online numbers” and provide this information from their latest report:

“The SUUF Covid Safety team met via Zoom on April 22, 2022, for our monthly pandemic update. While the CDC risk rating for Yavapai and Coconino counties remains low, there has been an uptick in the number of Covid hospitalizations locally, which is not surprising given the national trend toward increased transmission in recent weeks. Our consensus opinion is that we should continue to be cautious and maintain our current safety policies for the remainder of the spring.”

Based on their findings, and noting a substantial decline in the hospitalization numbers last weekend, we look forward to easing other restrictions. This Sunday’s service will feature “live” singing by our musician Susannah Martin instead of the recorded videos that have been a part of our services this year.

While we remain cautiously optimistic, we will continue our practices of masking and social distancing during the next month as we watch for any new developments, and strongly encourage all in-person participants to be vaccinated and receive boosters when appropriate. The team plans to meet again in August to reevaluate the situation before we resume services in September.