At this time, though the state of North Carolina is in Phase 3 of Reopening, ERUUF is operating under our own Phase 2 Reopening Guidelines.  (The Phases and Guidelines can be found below.) At this time all ERUUF programs including Sunday services remain online. Outside space on campus is available for small group use by reservation.  

 

Holiday Office Hours at ERUUF

The ERUUF Office will be closed from the afternoon of December 20 through December 30. We’ll be open from 10:00 am -1:00 pm on December 31, then closed again through January 2. This is standard practice at many congregations (and at the UUA) in order to give staff and ministers some much needed time off (needed this year more than ever).

Click below to read the full ERUUF end-of-year update. 

During this time

  • Sunday and holiday online worship services and gatherings will Livestream as usual (Sunday RE at 9:30 am.; Services at 10:30 am; Christmas Eve service at 7:00 pm).
  • Ministers will respond to pastoral concerns as soon as possible. Call 919-489-2575 and leave a voicemail message for the minister you wish to speak to; she will call you back asap. (Please note that this is the way we prefer that you reach out to us).
  • Mail will be brought in regularly and all envelopes postmarked by December 31, 2020, can be counted toward this year’s tax-deductible contributions.
  • A few adult classes/programs will begin as publicized.
  • If you have questions contact Revs. Cayer or Brett or Daniel Trollinger.

End of Year Update on ERUUF

Despite the pandemic, ERUUF is in very good health in terms of finances, attendance, and membership here in the last weeks of 2020. This is due to the tremendous commitment of our members, ministers and staff who’ve all done their best to move forward together during this time.

Thank you to the families who prepaid their pledges and made extra contributions to the fellowship last spring and summer when our situation looked bleak. Your generosity, supplemented by our PPP loan (which became a grant), helped put ERUUF in a stable position that we’ve been able to maintain ever since.

Our special collections in November for Urban Ministries of Durham were highly successful—together we raised over $14,000 that will go directly to UMD! This will enable our UMD Justice team to meet our obligations through the end of June and beyond.

Thank you to everyone who, unasked, sent in extremely generous contributions to the Ministers Discretionary Fund. Because of your generosity, we’ve been able to provide food, medicine, utilities, car, rent and mortgage payments for ERUUF members who suddenly and unexpectedly found themselves facing a gap around these crucial needs during this time. The Christmas Eve collection is the main way that we replenish this fund every year. Thanks to your generous giving we have and will continue to be able to help everyone in need.


Some members who attend the Sunday service in real-time have been concerned about “low attendance” on Sunday morning. It’s true that those first Sunday numbers are lower than usual, but when we look at the numbers over time it turns out that within one week the number of views for each service have climbed steeply. And by one month later we’ve actually served 100 more “screens” than when we meet in person. It seems that when people are able to tune in “on-demand” they do!

We continue to welcome visitors to each service, and our Inquirers class is humming along with interested people in attendance each week. We also virtually welcomed five new members this past November (in addition to those welcomed last spring).

Despite “Zoom fatigue” adult classes and programs have been well attended. There are more than 150 people in covenant groups and chalice circles and our other small groups and our music groups continue to meet.

Our Every Member Outreach calls have been meaningful and well-received, not only by those receiving calls and emails but also by those who’ve made them. We’re still wrapping up this effort. When the Calling Team leaders reviews results they’ll report out about how everyone is doing.