By Lisa Hatchett, Santa Clara United Methodist  Women

In 2020-2021, our UMW members felt a strong need to stay connected.  Since we were worshiping on Zoom on Sundays, and our members were familiar with the technology, we decided to have UMW meetings monthly on Zoom. 

We tried to keep the meetings similar to our in-person meetings, with a program as well as a Response moment, prayers, and lifting each other up.  We averaged about eight attendees at each meeting.

Several times we played a game as part of the meeting, just to have a little fun.  Our favorite game was Scattergories, where you try to name items in various categories that start with a given letter.  We also played Yahtzee.  Several of our members took advantage of the Spiritual Retreat and Faith Talks that were offered online.

Our programs included:

• Group study of “Finding Peace in an Anxious World”
• Living Wage and the Legacy Fund
• Climate Challenges Featuring David Attenborough’s “A Life On Our Planet”
• Favorite Bible verse
• Review of reading program books
• Recipe exchange

We transitioned to a hybrid in-person and Zoom meeting in June 2021.  Throughout this time we have had some deep discussions and gotten to know each other better.  The Zoom format has enabled some out-of-town members to join our meetings which has been wonderful to stay in touch.