On behalf of the Reopening Committee, a huge thank you to all of you who took the survey about returning to in-person church. We are thrilled with the 98 households who responded, representing 178 people! You were thoughtful in sharing your hopes, concerns, and reflections on the future of worship at Plymouth, both in-person and online.

Before we dive into the survey results, I’d like to recap on some of the unique challenges facing Plymouth’s return to in-person worship:

• Our antiquated heating and ventilation system. The HVAC system is a building original – 1967! – and lacks many of the controls and abilities of modern systems to clean and filter air. This is compounded by certain parts of the building, especially the sanctuary, having limited access to outside air and cross-flow ventilation. None of us are experts in HVAC systems, and the church is in the process of getting a more in-depth assessment of air exchange rates in different areas of the building. We hope to use these findings to continue to inform the evolving plans for in-person worship, which we are currently planning to hold in Hildebrand Hall.
• Historic larger presence of drop-in visitors, due to our downtown location. We opened the church doors and welcomed those visiting the city and staying in nearby hotels, as well as our un-housed neighbors, every Sunday morning. How do we reopen in a way that stays grounded in radical welcome, when we may not know everyone’s vaccination status?
• Hesitancy around capital infrastructure investments, due to the uncertain future of the building. Other churches of similar size or financial resources have made major investments, such as new HVAC systems, installing fiber internet, or upgrading sound and video equipment to support livestreaming. We are called to be good stewards of the church’s endowment, and want to be thoughtful about making these kinds of long-term investments while the work of the Exploratory Redevelopment Committee is underway.

Then, there are all the usual logistical challenges of resuming in-person worship, which churches everywhere are continuing to problem solve --- how do we take the offering if people are sitting socially distanced? If the speaker is wearing a mask, will the audio be good enough to reach those watching online? And there are also challenges around norms and culture --- how can we foster a culture of consent where people ask before hugging, or even handshaking, remembering that there is a wide variety of risk tolerances within our community? For all of these challenges, we can, and are, continuing to learn from other congregations across the Pacific Northwest Conference and beyond.

But what about the survey, you ask? Well, we are still sifting through the qualitative feedback, but here are a few things that stand out:

• We are a highly vaccinated congregation. When accounting for the 178 individuals represented in all the households, 95% are vaccinated. With the recent vaccine eligibility of children ages 5-11, we expect this rate will continue to rise.
• People miss the spiritual connection that comes with being physically present in worship together. Over 84% of respondents said this was one of the top things important to them about in-person church.
• Hybrid worship remains important. Over 62% of respondents said they would attend either in-person or online worship, while another 7% of you said you would attend online only. As a community, we have a challenge and opportunity in how we become a church that meets both in-person and online. 
• There is significant anxiety about mask adherence. What happens if you see someone not wearing a mask properly? What if it’s someone you don’t know? What if it’s someone you do? Should you say something? Will someone else say something? What’s the protocol? We don’t have answers to this one, but we are thinking about how to address these concerns, and welcome your ideas too.
• People want to follow facts and science, but also recognize the importance of radical welcome. Many of you prefer to ask only vaccinated people to attend, but many of you also struggle with having any sort of rules about who can come to church. This is a tension we also feel within the Reopening Committee.

Thank you also for all your comments that are not specific to in-person worship, but more about the current and future state of our church. We are a church in transition in many ways, and what you shared reflects that reality (my favorite example is that there were an equal number of comments asking for more and less organ music!). These comments have been shared with the staff, and where appropriate, lay leadership and committees (such as the Exploratory Redevelopment Committee).

If you have additional thoughts to share, please send them to the Rev. Kevin Bechtold and he will bring them to our committee.

We know many of you deeply miss in-person worship. We miss it too --- and we miss you! We are diligently working to find a path forward that reduces the risk of COVID-19 as much as possible given our building’s constraints, allows for both in-person and online participation, and allows us to live into our next chapter of Plymouth’s story.

With much gratitude,

Robin DeCook, on behalf of the Reopening Committee