Day: December 23, 2021

Important Updates About Our Christmas Eve Services

December 23, 2021 /

Due to the rising concern about the Omicron Variant of COVID-19, we have decided to make adjustments to our Christmas Eve Services to prioritize safety for all participants. This includes a location change for our 5 PM service to outdoors, some additional regulations for our 9 PM service, and a more robust online offering so that everyone is able to participate comfortably and with security in knowing your safety is being prioritized. 

5 PM Service (Previously at The Lincoln Center)

This service will take place in the East church parking lot and be under 45 minutes in length. Please remember to bring chairs for comfortable seating (we’ll also have some available for those that don’t have them)! Masks are required (medical-grade masks encouraged), and vaccination is required for those 12+.

Moving the service outside has allowed us to increase capacity. If you aren’t already registered, save your spot now!

PLEASE NOTE: We are aware that the weather forecast looks somewhat concerning. We will send an email and text to all registered attendees by noon confirming our plan to go forward in person, or case of inclement weather, move to all-online. 

9 PM Service

This service will take place as scheduled in the church sanctuary. However, we ask folks to consider carefully if their attendance might pose a risk to others. If you are currently registered but meet any of the following criteria, please consider watching the livestream from home instead of attending in person: 

– Anyone who has not received their booster
– Anyone who has traveled out of state or by plane in the last week
– Anyone hosting out-of-town guests

If you are no longer able to attend due to this request or feel more comfortable choosing to tune in from home, please remember to cancel your registration (select “view registration” then “cancel online”).

Online Options available at 7 and 9 PM (and possibly 5 PM)

We previously planned to offer a 7 PM online service; however, due to the changing circumstances, we are now offering two online versions of our services.

7 PM Broadcast – Modern Pageant: Join us online for a heartwarming and funny take on the Nativity story that blends all the traditional elements you love with progressive values. 

9 PM Livestream – Meditative Candlelight: Join us in real-time for a magical and meaningful candlelight Christmas Eve service in the sanctuary with piano and cello.

Both of these services will be available at the times listed above (or anytime after) on our website and Facebook Live. 

COVID Safety Protocols

All of the safety protocols will still be observed for in-person services (outdoors and indoors), including: 
– Masking for everyone over the age of 2.
– Vaccinations for everyone over the age of 12.
– We strongly encourage the use of medical-grade masks at all times. 
– Medical grade* masks are required for the indoor service at 9 PM, we will have extras on hand for anyone who does not have one. 
– For the 5 PM service, bathroom access will be emergency only and will require a medical-grade mask Please use the West parking lot or the neighborhood street parking. 

*Medical grade masks include surgical masks, N95, N94 or KN95s

We are truly grateful to still have the opportunity to gather and celebrate together in ways that preserve the festiveness, fun, and fulfillment of our original plan while protecting the safety of our Foothills family and larger community – as well as the well-being of our brave healthcare providers in the midst of overwhelmed hospitals. Thank you for your flexibility!

The Foothills Team 

 

Sanctuary Everywhere Update (December 2021)

December 23, 2021 /

Part of Foothills’ Justice work, Sanctuary Everywhere, accompanies asylum seekers as they begin their lives here in Fort Collins.  Now, six months into our newest and largest Village, we continue to serve and to learn. (See Rev. Gretchen’s update on the first six months of Sanctuary Everywhere in 2021.) 

The pattern of accompanying such a large Family of 17 asylum seekers seems to follow our more familiar pattern of accompanying an individual.  The first months demand immense energy, time, flexibility and problem-solving, as well as the ability to anticipate future needs – all while juggling all the rest!  All the while Village members learn – learn more about each family member, learn about issues we have not dealt with before (in this Village, it’s the complexities and challenges in the legal universe; always it is the effects of trauma), learn more about local resources we can access, and more about ourselves as individuals and as a team.

Since Rev Gretchen’s July Sanctuary Everywhere update, both remaining family members still held in detention have been released, one to join his partner here, and the other to join her younger siblings.  Family reunions are just the best! 

We continue to transport and –to varying degrees–facilitate appointments for medical, dental, mental health care, and Covid vaccinations (a moving target for 13 people plus new immigrants joining the household!!!) as well as to various appointments with ICE and lawyers and court.  Additionally, there are appointments with teachers, English classes and tutoring, and help getting to Food Bank…  Phew!

As we learn about and connect with local resources, our goal is always to teach and encourage family members to take such actions for themselves.  As with any group, some learn and adapt more quickly, and others continue to require continuing support.  Consequently, the number of Family members we are actively accompanying is shrinking, allowing the Core team to consider our next Village

The History of ISAAC & EIF (Immigration Justice)

December 23, 2021 /
In early 2017, Foothills Unitarian’s immigration justice team convened a group of over 30 faith communities and leaders from across Northern Colorado for a conversation about sanctuary. We were discerning becoming a sanctuary church and wanted to do that in partnership with others. From that conversation, those leaders all went back to their congregations and discerned the right path for them. We decided to become a sanctuary congregation, while other churches and leaders decided on other paths, and we all supported each other’s efforts. We welcomed Ingrid Encalada LaTorre into Sanctuary at our church in October 2017, and this interfaith community would go on to be critical to us while we housed her and her children and supported her journey forward.

The group of religious leaders and organizations remained committed to continuing conversations in support of interfaith collaboration around immigration justice. Rev. Gretchen Haley shared that she had been part of an effort in Denver where the interfaith community started an emergency fund that could be used for emergencies for undocumented people. She knew that Jefferson Unitarian in Golden had been the fiscal sponsor to make that fund possible. She imagined Foothills Unitarian offering similar support. 

With  initial fundraising from the Foothills and community, and an agreement for Foothills to be the fiscal sponsor, the Emergency Immigration Fund (EIF) launched in August 2017.

The initial steering committee for the EIF comprised Rev. Gretchen, one Foothills Unitarian member, and two community representatives. In 2019, Rev. Kristen Psaki took Rev. Gretchen’s place on the steering committee, and as of late 2020, the fund has evolved to be driven directly by members of the immigrant community.
 
Our goals with the Fund were to get money into the hands of those who needed it without bureaucracy and while leveraging existing networks of trust so that we could be sure we reach the people who need it most but may not otherwise seek support. As a result, we worked to develop procedures and processes that allowed those on the ground in immigrant communities to quickly write checks to get money in the hands of people who were in crisis.  
 
By 2018, the informal interfaith group had transitioned to become its own organization, ISAAC, and we maintained fiscal sponsorship of the EIF, but not of ISAAC itself. The fund is only one part of ISAAC’s work. ISAAC has been engaged in deeply impactful education and advocacy work within different faith communities since its inception.
 
While the EIF has continued to grow since 2018, it really took off in 2020 when we sought out a grant specific to COVID relief. We went from distributing annual funds of about $30,000 per to more than $500,000 in 2020. This was activated especially in March 2020 when Rev. Psaki helped convene the leaders and organizers working with immigrants in Northern Colorado to coordinate and respond to the particular needs of immigrants in the pandemic. This group continues to meet monthly and is now facilitated by the City of Fort Collins. Foothills member Ticie Rhodes has been a key part of keeping this conversation going and facilitating collaboration across partners. 
 
The Fund’s rapid growth made it clear we should begin transitioning the EIF to be held within ISAAC, now a 501c3, rather than administered through Foothills Unitarian. That transition was completed in late 2021. 
 
Throughout the evolution of EIF, members of Foothills Unitarian were critical in its growth and impact. Mary Hill did the initial “gap” research on what the fund should be used.  Ed Meek was a key part of a major fundraiser in 2018 that raised the fund’s profile, and Mary, along with Sue Ferguson, Daniel Covey, Anne Hall and Sally Harris were also deeply involved in convening the initial conversations and helping to launch ISAAC. 

Today, although we are no longer the fiscal sponsor, we continue as a member congregation, and Ticie Rhodes and Tom Rhodes are both serving on the ISAAC Board.

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