I have been receiving several requests from people who want to return to having Services in the sanctuary now that the city of San Francisco is allowing them, with some restrictions. I wanted to take this opportunity to lay out our plans and decision-making process for you. I have heard from several of you, and I feel your pain; it is hard to hear of and see other spiritual communities opening their doors while ours has not.
First, I want to let you know that I want you back. I want to see your beautiful faces and feel your love and joy as we celebrate together! So, as soon as we can do that safely, we will open the doors and let you in. Second, my responsibility is also the safety of our staff, our musicians, and their families. We have moved our teams back into the sanctuary and have begun the process of filming sections of the service congruently. The logistics of this, as you might imagine, are not simple. However, we are moving closer to this goal every week, and by July, we will have a system to film the entire Service again in one session.
Once we have worked out all of the choreography of Sunday Service in the age of COVID-19, we will be able to formulate a timetable and safety plan for you to join us. Science tells us that it can take up to two weeks for symptoms of COVID-19 to appear. Time will tell us if the system we have put into place is truly safe. Then, we can joyfully and lovingly open the doors and let some of you be with us. Many of you may feel that you want to continue to participate via our Livestream and Zoom. With you in mind, we are also working hard to make sure that the quality of our online services will continue as we integrate more people back into the sanctuary.
All of our plans, of course, may also be affected by developments in the world, and I will continue to watch, listen, and learn as our vibrant future unfolds.