Greetings, from within the sanctuary, and doesn’t it feel nice again! In the past few weeks I have informed choir members in a few forums (Zoom meeting in early November with follow-up notes, and a lengthy email last week) with a number of my thoughts about moving us toward a renewed musical life in the sanctuary which will take us through a variety of stages in Advent, leading to what we hope will feel like a fairly normal musical experience for the congregation on Christmas Sunday (12/19) and our Christmas Eve Candlelight Service (12/24 at 9:00 p.m.). With any luck those two services may feel unusual only by the inclusion of masks on our faces.
Staff will be closely monitoring the situation in our neighborhood and surrounding communities and will make amends to any of these ideas if needed. Everything that is spoken of, or even put into print, during this transition period will implicitly include an “assuming things stay the same or improve” clause.
In accordance with the Southern New England UCC Conference’s guidance just this week, we will continue a cautious approach to our music making, while recognizing that there is a strong need for community at this time of year. Of note, please be aware of the following practices which we will abide by:
- All group and congregational singing indoors will be fully masked until further notice;
- We will rehearse outside on Sunday mornings in early Advent, and sing as a group exclusively outdoors through December 5;
- We will offer two indoor Thursday evening rehearsals, each just thirty minutes long, and spread two weeks apart. They will be in Edwards Hall, seated in a large full circle with ventilation;
- When our worship singing moves indoors on December 12, we will observe additional social distancing between singers and remain masked;
- We would like each singer to be fully vaccinated before participating in any indoor group singing event (the first of which is December 2).
We hope that by clearly outlining and then by abiding by these admittedly cautious measures, each singer will understand our compassion, will know what is expected, and will be able to comfortably make their own decision about when and to what degree they wish to return to our blessed community.
Furthermore, if you have not been a member of the “Edwards Church Choir” over the years, but you’ve always wished you could somehow make another musical mark on our community, I trust you’ve enjoyed the opportunities this fall to join the chorus of singers on the lawn in September and October. We will see a return of this unrehearsed group of music lovers in the new year, so please let me know if you’d like to be included in Edwards Church Music emails moving forward.
And finally, I want to extend my thanks to all the staff members who serve Edwards Church with me. Now that we are fully visible again at the front of the sanctuary, it is likely more evident that each of us has agreed to wear several additional hats as we strive to bridge two communities on Sunday mornings. We have made sometimes difficult modifications to the work that first attracted us to this community, and have adapted the workload multiple times during this period. I am grateful for teamwork of the program staff, Debbie, Karen Nell, Nicola, and me, and ask your continued patience as we determine how best to serve everyone who chooses to worship with us, not only “no matter where you are on your life’s journey” but also, “no matter where you are.” full stop: One Edwards.
With the greatest love and best wishes this holiday season,
Rick Seaholm, Commissioned Minister of Music