To enhance spiritual connections during gatherings when Zoom is used, including hybrid meeting for worship, meeting for worship with attention to business, committee meetings, forums, midweek fellowship, or other get-togethers, we recommend the following guidelines:
1. Introduce the people in the physical room and those on Zoom so everyone knows who is present. Ensure that the laptop camera shows as many people in the room as possible. Keep some lights on so Friends on Zoom and in the worship room can better see each other.
2. When you are using Zoom, keep your camera on as much as possible, because being onscreen enhances the sense of being gathered together. If you feel more comfortable turning your camera off or otherwise changing what we see, please let us know if you would like help in blurring your background, adding a virtual background, or sharing a photo of yourself or a graphic that is meaningful to you in place of a blank screen.
3. If you are in the worship room and want to speak, please use a microphone so people on Zoom can hear you.
4. Remain quiet until you are ready to speak. Zoom participants should unmute when ready to speak and then mute themselves again after they speak. Keeping ourselves muted prevents household noises from distracting others. If you forget to mute yourself and the host mutes you, remember to unmute before speaking.
5. During meeting for worship, do your best to be in worship and minimize distractions to others. Engaging in activities other than worship makes it more difficult for us to recognize Spirit’s presence and for the meeting for worship to be gathered.