ERUUF is Online. We are following all City of Durham and State of North Carolina pandemic guidelines.

 Click below to read Rev. Cayer's update from May 7, 2020. 

How to Access Worship Services

Access worship through the links on ERUUF’s home page. We continue to make improvements to make it easier for you attend these services. We understand that some folks have been having trouble getting in to the services. Please contact if you experience any issues and we’ll do our best to help you get to the service.

Sunday Morning Worship - via YouTube Live

10:30am - 11:30am + Coffee Hour afterwards

10:25am - access opens

On Sunday, go to the ERUUF home page and find an orange Join Sunday Worship button. This will take you to the ERUUF YouTube videos page. Look for the red Live Now label on a video. If you do not see it, please wait a minute and reload the page. Once you see it, click on it to enter. You will see an opening screen if you are early.

Coffee Hour occurs afterwards. At the end of the Sunday service, we’ll post clear instructions for how to get to Virtual Coffee Hour. (We do it this way for Zoom Meeting security.)

Wednesday Evening Vespers - via Zoom

7:00pm - 7:45 pm

 6:50pm - access opens

Access the link on the homepage in the Next Service area. You will enter a Waiting Room and the Meeting Host will admit you. (This is an effort to increase Zoom Meeting security.) Music will play until the start of Vespers.

Vespers is simple and relaxed, and usually lasts for about 40-45 minutes. This is a great opportunity to see many friends in real-time online. This service is not recorded.

Successful Payroll Protection Program Loan Approval

In April the Board of Trustees voted in favor of ERUUF’s application for a loan through the Small Business Association. Late on May 6, we were notified that ERUUF’s loan has been approved. Congress passed this legislation in an effort to help small businesses and nonprofits, including congregations, keep employees employed at regular hours and pay through the early chaotic stages of the pandemic. Loan applications could be up to 2.5 times average monthly payroll, plus mortgage/ rent, and utilities. ERUUF applied, and has been approved for a loan of $106,200.

This is uncharted territory for religious institutions, but based on advice of lawyers and policy advisors, the UUA strongly encouraged congregations to apply so that vital services to members and the larger community could continue. Congress specifically included faith-based institutions in the bill, because most food security, housing, and other programs that assist the most vulnerable are largely organized and supported by faith-based institutions.

One unique feature of this loan program is that if businesses and nonprofits keep their employees on the payroll for eight weeks from the date funds are deposited, the loan will turn into a federal grant that does not need to be repaid. If these conditions cannot be met, the money remains a loan, payable at 4% over 30 years.

This money will help make up for income lost during the pandemic and will support ERUUF in continuing strong through the long recovery phases ahead. As always, ERUUF is committed not only to our members but also to equitable partnerships in the larger community, especially those that serve the most vulnerable. Many thanks to our Board and the Board’s Finance Advisory Committee, and especially to our Administrator, Daniel Trollinger, and Bookkeeper, Sheng Yang, who spent hours on research, thorough discussion and debate, and careful application and follow up.

As always, the Board is very interested in members’ thoughts and questions and can be contacted at . Stay tuned for upcoming online conversations with the Board about next year’s budget later in May and early June.

Phases of Recovery

We continue to learn new things about pandemics all the time, don’t we? One of the most helpful articles I’ve recently read talks about the difference between preparing for and recovering from a blizzard, and a whole season of winter. We initially responded to COVID-19 as a blizzard, but are beginning to understand that we now need to plan for an unexpected season of something like “winter” as we await a vaccine, effective remedies, and/or effective social ways of protecting frontline workers and the most vulnerable among us.

We are just starting to receive information specifically for congregations about how to plan various phases of returning to in-person gatherings. The Board and Coordinating Team will work with lay leaders, our members and staff to identify what’s likely to be needed in each new phase and how we can all work together to meet those needs.

One thing is already very clear. Many people will not be able to return to in-person activities for quite some time. And so we are making plans to upgrade our filming equipment in the Sanctuary so that we can live stream services when that time comes. We’re also exploring ways that in-person groups, classes, and meetings could include online accessibility as part of our regular programming going forward.