Author: Tech UUCP

Lay Pastoral Care is the “being” arm of our UUCP caring ministry and has been very active over the past year. Serving as an extension of Rev. Christine Dance’s own pastoral care presence, our trained UUCP Lay Pastoral Care Associates (LPCA) provide a respectful, caring presence to congregants undergoing stressful life challenges. They listen deeply, respect and value what congregants share, and offer a compassionate space while honoring privacy and confidentiality.

If you are interested in becoming a UUCP Lay Pastoral Care Associate, our pastoral ministry is seeking compassionate listeners who are interested in joining this team. UUCP members interested in becoming LPC Associates will be asked to complete an application.

If you have questions, or are interested in applying to be a UUCP Lay Pastoral Care Associate, please email our UUCP LPCA coordinator Victoria Myers at lpca@phoenixuu.org.

Due to the impact of COVID-19 and the guided practices for safety, we hope you will join us in our ongoing understanding of what we can do to best support all included. Most small groups are still meeting on Zoom. However, if there is a compelling case for meeting in-person or if everyone in the group all agrees that this would be beneficial, then we are supporting small group in-person gatherings with the following guidelines.  

Vaccinations

We strongly recommend that all people who are gathering be vaccinated. We will not be mandating congregants be vaccinated.  

We do not recommend that groups with children under 12 meet, as those community members do not have access to the vaccine yet.  

Two Out of Three Rule

For small groups or for members of staff meeting with individuals, we will be using the two out of three rule. These 2 of 3 should be agreed upon before meeting.  

Two of the three safety protocols should be met:

• Meeting outdoors
• Masked
• 6’ apart

This means that if you meet outdoors, you can be masked and closer than 6’. Or you can be 6’ and unmasked. Or if you meet inside, you should be masked and 6’ apart.   

Consent

The key to making this work is consent! A meeting should not happen unless everyone is in favor and all the people agree to the meeting guidelines before the group gathers.  

• You should give everyone in your group the opportunity to weigh in on how safe they are feeling in regards to meeting. Our rule of thumb is to find the person who is least comfortable and have the group go follow that person’s lead.  
• Note that this is our opportunity to practice how to have discussions about what we’re comfortable with, practice radical inclusion and centering those who would otherwise be left out. This will be good practice for when we gather together in larger groups.

Building and Campus

• None of the buildings on the UUCP campus will be available for any small group meetings or for bathroom usage. Until we have protocols for cleaning and staffing, we cannot support in-person groups in the building. This does not apply for one-on-one meetings with staff members.  
• If you want to meet outside, you can use the UUCP outside campus, including the parking lot (once complete) and the Memorial Garden. Coordinate with Stephanie Breidel-Vigil for more information (administrator@phoenixuu.org).