UU Casper Update: Online services this weekend, Zoom instructions, more

To the UU Casper beloved community: We hope you are all well and taking care of each other through this difficult and uncertain time. Here is what’s happening at UU Casper!

Online Services: As we informed everyone on March 17th, the UU Casper building is closed, and to nurture our spiritual well-being and maintain our beloved community we are moving services and events online.

The UU Casper Tech Team has been working hard this week to be ready for online services this weekend. Athne Machdane will be presenting an online Ostara Ritual this Saturday at 7 pm, and Reverend Kee will be leading an online 10 am Sunday service. Online services will be new for us, so your patience and feedback will be important during this transition.

We will be using Zoom, an online meeting app that allows for interaction by participants. There is a new webpage at uucasper.org that provides instructions on how to attend services using Zoom. Click on “Attend an Online Service” on the main menu to access this page. You may attend via a smart phone, tablet or computer, or you may call in from your phone.

Here is the link to Join the Online Service on Zoom
https://zoom.us/j/4591870381

Smart phone or computer: First download the Zoom app onto your device ahead of time. The Zoom Meeting ID for all UU Casper services and events is 459 187 0381.

Phone (audio only): Call 1-253-215-8782, when prompted for the Meeting ID enter “459 187 0381 #”. Then, when prompted for your personal ID, enter “#”.

For a great Zoom tutorial by Rev. Sean Neil-Barron at Foothills Unitarian in Fort Collins, go to https://foothillsuu.org/resource/zoom-resources/

One-on-one Zoom help is available: Members of our Tech Team are available to help you one-on-one and step by step. Call Laura at 307-259-4469 or email info@uucasper.org.

Other Online Events and Meetings: The Zoom meeting room will also be used for other online events, such as Meditation Group on Tuesdays at 6:30 pm, and the Building Your Own Theology class, and is also available for Board of Trustees and committees meetings.

UU Casper Care Circle: Under the guidance of Reverend Kee, the UU Casper Care Circle has begun calling members and friends to ask how everyone is doing and how we can help. Care Circle volunteers are also sharing information about the upcoming online services and programs and finding out who needs technical assistance. If you are interested in helping with the Caring Circle, or if you are in a non-high-risk group and have time to help out occasionally for things like picking up and delivering groceries, meals or prescriptions, please contact Reverend Kee (contact information below).

Again, we encourage everyone to keep in touch with each other – just hearing a human voice over the phone can lift someone spirits. This is a time we are called to minister to each other however we can.

Minister’s Discretionary Fund: The economic impact of social distancing will mean lost income for some of our members and friends. To help during the upcoming weeks and months, the UU Casper Board of Trustees has allocated an additional $2,000 to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund. If you would like to make a special contribution to this fund or would like more information, please contact Reverend Kee or Treasurer Laura Gossman (contact information below)

Online Donations Coming Soon: To provide ways for members and friends to continue their generous support of UU Casper, we will soon have online donation capabilities at uucasper.org and our Facebook page using Paypal. In addition to regular operating donations, donors will be able to designate donations for the Patrick Building Fund, the Minister’s Discretionary Fund, or the Share the Plate program. Stay tuned!

UU Casper will continue to provide regular updates through email, our website uucasper.org, Facebook, and by telephone. If you have any questions or concerns, or just feeling the need to connect, please reach out to Reverend Kee or any of the UU Casper Trustees.

With Love, Reverend Leslie Kee and the UU Casper Board of Trustees