It’s been a different kind of year – that’s for sure. However the deacons continued with monthly meetings making decisions about worship at WCC. For this report, we’ll cover the variety of activities and the adjustments made to manage during the pandemic.

We continued with monthly meetings (except, of course, August). The first three meetings were in person as usual; then we started meeting virtually. Once we all got used to it, we got along well. It was always good to have the opportunity to touch base even just on Zoom.

Review of council minutes: each month we reviewed council minutes to determine if there was anything in them that would direct our activities as deacons. For example, council would decide about keeping the church closed during the pandemic and then extending the closure as the situation continued. Deacons would then work with Peter to plan worship services and how we might proceed. When the weather was warm, Peter would video the service from the sanctuary. When it was too cold, he would move the service to his office.

Virtual worship: Each month we considered the need to continue virtual services or whether there were alternatives (ex: holding outdoor services; have services in the sanctuary with limited people – how would we manage that and did it make sense). By September the decision was made not to even consider alternatives until state guidelines opened everything up or we had good vaccine coverage. The virtual services were going well, people actually liked them, we found we had people joining us from a distance. Peter, Erik, and Mary Jane did amazing work to provide all of us with meaningful worship opportunities each Sunday and we are so grateful to them.

We also considered the issue of continuing virtual services even when we have some people coming to services in the sanctuary. We decided to recommend continuing taping services when we return to in-person services as there will still be those who couldn’t come because of concerns for catching Covid-19 or because they live way away. Peter, Dean, and JT Leavitt formed a committee to determine what equipment we would need and purchased it for the church.

Deacon assignments; Every month we would assign deacons to be co-hosts with Peter during services to assist with managing the technology aspect. Also, deacons continued keeping an attendance log to help us track numbers of folks at each service. Special services: We had one baptism in February. Otherwise, any special services have been canceled. We planned but did not have a service for the blessing of the pets. There were no weddings or funerals in the sanctuary. Peter did do several services in the cemetery with small family groups but we basically avoided any service that would have larger groups. We did do special services virtually on Thanksgiving and Christmas. They were a great success – again thanks to the work of Peter, Erik, and Mary Jane.

Membership review: In the spring we did a membership review which entails reviewing the lists of active members, inactive members, and no longer members. Our bylaws state that deacons will conduct this review every five years.

Breakout rooms: Peter set up a system of breakout rooms after services. Two, three, or four people were randomly assigned to breakout rooms and had the opportunity to chat as in a coffee hour. It went really well and we continued with breakout rooms throughout the year.

Summer lunch program. The summer lunch program was able to continue as it was an outside affair. Volunteers picked up lunches in Berlin and distributed the food to families with school age and younger children under the drive thru at the church. Other than the summer lunch program, all community uses of the church were discontinued due to the pandemic.

We all have our fingers crossed that we will have the opportunity again soon to gather in our beloved sanctuary. We are indeed fortunate to have been able to gather virtually and many people comment on how they have looked forward to Sunday services throughout this difficult year. However, we look forward to the day that we can greet, shake hands, and hug again. In the meantime, we will continue to connect with each other as it makes sense. Many thanks to all for the compassionate caring for each other that we have experienced this year.

Respectfully submitted,
Cindy Senning – co-chair