As colors of autumn appear, I am reminded that change can be beautiful. Even change that includes discomfort and loss, that ushers in a new season of longer nights and colder mornings, may bring gifts and perspective. Letting go can be gentle, like a falling leaf that becomes the hummus for new growth to spring from.
As we gathered back on the campus of Northland College for the first time in two years, I felt very emotional. There’s been so much change. Thank you to all those who innovated and adapted, stored equipment at their homes and in their cars, and gave and gave again to see this fellowship through to this point when we begin living into the hope that we shared that someday we would be able to gather in person again on the campus of Northland College.
Over the summer, the CUUF Board finalized a new Memorandum of Understanding to hold services on campus for the foreseeable future. Worship services will be both online and in person in the Alvord Theater. We gather with an awareness that COVID-19, while still in our midst, no longer poses the same life-threatening risks to large group gatherings. At each service, you’ll be asked to sign in for contact tracing in the event that a significant exposure occurs. We will follow our regional data and when cases are low or medium services will include singing and hospitality and masks will be optional. If regional cases are high or very high, we will adapt services, such as asking everyone to mask, adapting congregational singing, and encouraging social distancing.
As the liminality of the fall season continues to unfold, may your slippers be warm, may your tea bring comfort, and may the changes we’ve experienced sink in and be sources of new growth.
In peace and fellowship,
Stacy Craig