<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif"><div class="gmail_default">I am canceling the men's dinner scheduled for my home this Wednesday. The Church Board has cancelled all "large group activities." "Large" has not been defined, but Gary tells me it is my responsibility as host to decide about the men's group. Sharing food, as we do at men's group, is especially risky, and a lot of us are in the "over 70" category. So I'm calling it off.</div><div class="gmail_default"><br></div><div class="gmail_default">As an alternative, I am considering setting up a virtual meeting. I was inspired by the attached email from Beth Casebolt in which she says she is opening her "zoom room" at 7 tonight. Zoom is one of the best known softwares for online meetings. I'm going to attend her meeting at 7 tonight, and if it works well, I may open a "zoom room" for our group. We can do our usual check-in and get updates on everyone's lives. We can focus especially on dealing with the imminent pandemic.</div><div class="gmail_default"><br></div><div class="gmail_default">This pandemic is likely to last for several months, so learning to use virtual meeting tools may prove useful for other things as well. For Zoom, you need a computer and internet, but most of us have that. There is also an option of using the telephone, but you have to pay them for an upgraded account for that.</div><div class="gmail_default"><br></div><div class="gmail_default">I'll send out another email later to let you know if the Zoom Room is happening and what's involved. If any of you have experience with this or other software such as Google Groups, please get in touch with me.</div><div class="gmail_default"><br></div><div class="gmail_default">Ted</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">---------- Forwarded message ---------<br>From: <strong class="gmail_sendername" dir="auto">Beth Casebolt via AppalachianCluster</strong> <span dir="auto"><<a href="mailto:appalachiancluster@lists.cerguua.org">appalachiancluster@lists.cerguua.org</a>></span><br>Date: Thu, Mar 12, 2020 at 12:55 PM<br>Subject: Re: [AppalachianCluster] Current UUA Status<br>To: Appalachian Cluster <<a href="mailto:appalachiancluster@lists.cerguua.org">appalachiancluster@lists.cerguua.org</a>><br></div><br><br>
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In the interest of helping as many folks as I can I am going to open my zoom room to answer questions and talk through challenges you may be facing. Consider this open virtual office hours if you will.
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<div>I’ll be there tomorrow at 7 pm for 1 hour. If you need to chat and this time doesn’t work for you reach out and we’ll schedule something.</div>
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<div>My Zoom information is below:</div>
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<div>Beth Casebolt is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.</div>
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<div>Topic: Appalachian Cluster Office Hours</div>
<div>Time: Mar 13, 2020 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)</div>
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<div>Join Zoom Meeting</div>
<div><a href="https://zoom.us/j/343992531" target="_blank">https://zoom.us/j/343992531</a></div>
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<div>Meeting ID: 343 992 531</div>
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<div>One tap mobile</div>
<div>+16465588656,,343992531# US (New York)</div>
<div>+16699006833,,343992531# US (San Jose)</div>
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<div>Dial by your location</div>
<div> +1 646 558 8656 US (New York)</div>
<div> +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)</div>
<div>Meeting ID: 343 992 531</div>
<div>Find your local number: <a href="https://zoom.us/u/aglSfvOp7" target="_blank">
https://zoom.us/u/aglSfvOp7</a></div>
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<strong style="color:rgb(60,58,115)">Beth Casebolt</strong> :: <a href="https://www.uua.org/lgbtq/identity/personal-pronouns" style="color:rgb(69,76,153);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">she/her/hers</a> <br>
CER Communications Consultant and Operations Manager <br>
740-232-9048<br>
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Contributions from <a href="https://www.uua.org/finance/apf" style="color:rgb(69,76,153);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">member congregations</a> and <a href="https://www.uua.org/giving" style="color:rgb(69,76,153);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">individual
donors</a> make the missional work of the UUA possible.</p>
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<div>On Mar 12, 2020, at 11:54 AM, Beth Casebolt via AppalachianCluster <<a href="mailto:AppalachianCluster@lists.cerguua.org" target="_blank">AppalachianCluster@lists.cerguua.org</a>> wrote:</div>
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Dear Appalachian Cluster members
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<div>I’m writing to check in and see what the needs and questions of the congregations in the Appalachian cluster with the current COVID-19 pandemic.</div>
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<div>First a few mentions - The UUA has closed the office in Boston and all staff are working from home. The UUA has also recommended that any congregation in an area with cases to suspend any gatherings of more than 25 people including worship services
(see the UU World article - <a href="https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.uuworld.org%2Farticles%2Fcovid19-uua-closure&data=01%7C01%7Cbcasebolt%40uua.org%7C1fe50e894a9f444671eb08d7c69da190%7C233fa3af288049738c97849b33720752%7C0&sdata=bEH2q9nJkdHUl4Y4aeyUZc6XkwChWCaEBeA4fwG0MIg%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.uuworld.org/articles/covid19-uua-closure</a>).
The Central East Region has cancelled all programming in March and April and is currently working on either moving them to online formats or reschedule. (see our announcement from yesterday - <a href="https://www.uua.org/central-east/blog/news/event-changes-central-east-region" target="_blank">https://www.uua.org/central-east/blog/news/event-changes-central-east-region</a>).</div>
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<div>All state universities and colleges in Ohio have switched to virtual classes through the end of the month and they may extend that. Marietta College, WVU and University of Maryland have also made that move. So there are many groups who are watching
this and trying to contain it.</div>
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<div>I strongly urge you to start talking now if you haven’t already about what you are going to do if you need to cancel services or more. As a faith community is it our responsibility to protect those who are most vulnerable in our congregations.
According to the CDC, that includes anyone over the age of 60, those with chronic respiratory or heart conditions and diabetes. We encourage you to take what your local public health department says to heart and follow their advice. However, I also encourage
you to consider taking these steps to protect your congregants before your health department says you have to. Some congregations have said we’ll close when the schools close - please note that school children are at the lowest risk and there is debate about
whether or not children are at lower or higher risk by going to school.</div>
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<div>Your UUA staff is rapidly creating and updating several webpages on the website that relate to this situation.</div>
<div>There is a page on Pandemics - <a href="https://www.uua.org/safe/pandemics" target="_blank">https://www.uua.org/safe/pandemics</a></div>
<div>A Guide to Streaming Sunday Services, Meetings, and Classes - <a href="https://www.uua.org/leadership/library/streaming" target="_blank">https://www.uua.org/leadership/library/streaming</a></div>
<div>Also look at this post - Streaming Sunday Services - Technical Tips - <a href="https://www.uua.org/leadership/library/streaming/sunday-services" target="_blank">https://www.uua.org/leadership/library/streaming/sunday-services</a></div>
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<div>There are options for gathering folks together in small groups and creating connection between our congregations. You can use Skype or google meetings or other software to do small groups. Check in on each other and see if you can help each other.
Send cards and letters. Have kids in your home drawing art? Send it to the shut in adults in your congregation. Create FaceTime opportunities to check in. Do those who are ill or unable to leave home need help getting groceries by those who are able to get
out. If children aren’t able to go to school can another adult FaceTime with a child (supervised by their parent) to share the excitements of their day to help save their parent’s sanity? Be creative, find out needs and figure out ways to connect that. Try
creating or using a closed facebook group (so only your members and friends can see it) to share needs and make offers of help. </div>
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<div>If you feel you can’t create worship there are alternatives - You can invite your congregation to share with a congregation that already livestreams their worship, many of our larger congregations do that and you can find links on their website.
If you need some suggestions let me know and I’ll share that with you. You can also join Church of the Larger Fellowship who has been doing online worship for a very long time. They do services each Sunday at 8 pm and use zoom for their service. - <a href="https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.questformeaning.org%2Fworship%2F&data=01%7C01%7Cbcasebolt%40uua.org%7C1fe50e894a9f444671eb08d7c69da190%7C233fa3af288049738c97849b33720752%7C0&sdata=bkExlu5i1t4PVajdjOihBJFuYbMRYEIxEzupkFTk9WY%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.questformeaning.org/worship/</a></div>
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<div>Have questions? Need advice? Reach out. Use this list or contact me directly. I certainly don’t have all the answers but I can help you find them. I can connect you with others. I can offer a zoom tutorial for your leadership. Let me know.</div>
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<div>We are a community and we can support each other in this time.</div>
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<div><strong style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:11pt;color:rgb(60,58,115)">Beth Casebolt</strong><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:11pt"> :: </span><a href="https://www.uua.org/lgbtq/identity/personal-pronouns" style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:11pt;color:rgb(69,76,153);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">she/her/hers</a><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:11pt"> </span></div>
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CER Communications Consultant and Operations Manager <br>
740-232-9048<br>
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<p style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;margin-bottom:1rem">
Contributions from <a href="https://www.uua.org/finance/apf" style="color:rgb(69,76,153);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">member congregations</a> and <a href="https://www.uua.org/giving" style="color:rgb(69,76,153);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">individual
donors</a> make the missional work of the UUA possible.</p>
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