The internet can be a wonderful environment for connection. Unfortunately, just like the “real world,” it’s plagued by people who don’t share our commitment to love and justice. Because the pandemic has moved most gatherings online, we’re seeing the rise of “Zoombombing.” These are trolls who try to use Zoom’s features to cause disruption by sharing harmful imagery or messages that are often sexual or racist.
We are striving to offer a meaningful, accessible and safe online worship service for UUCM members, friends and visitors. We already had some prevention settings in place for our Zoom worship. Based on recommendations, we’ve added a few more and will let the community know if others are required:
- We will now be using a new meeting ID for each weekly worship service. We had previously been using the same ID number. The Zoom link will be shared each week in the Friday Update email and posted on https://uucmtka.org/.
- When you connect to worship, you will automatically be placed in a waiting room. This will happen whether you join through the app or by phone. One of our greeters will manually admit you into the main Zoom meeting space. Think of this like waiting in the church community room before going into the sanctuary. For those using the Zoom app, it would help greeters if you changed your name to something recognizable (and not your device name). It would also help if folks could arrive early so there’s not a log-jam at the start of worship.
