Church Re-Opening and Serving One Another
As you know, the Ontario government has now allowed religious communities to open their facilities up to 30% of the building capacity for the purpose of prayer and corporate worship. That means we can and will re-open our church facility for Sunday corporate worship in the coming weeks! We cannot wait to see everyone together! As much as we are excited, however, we are also being cautious. We have a COVID-19 Task Force Team working on all the necessary safety measures, so that you can come and join our in-person corporate gathering without a worry. As a church we want to remain diligent in prioritizing the safety of vulnerable people in our church and the broader community. So here are some tentative plans regarding re-opening our church facilities:
Next Sunday, June 21, we plan to do a “test-run” of an in-person worship service with the officers (pastors, elders and deacons) and Life Group leaders. We will continue to make our services available online while we re-open our church facility. (And all Sunday programs for children will be done only virtually for now). For this coming Sunday we will prepare our service according to the government guidelines and then review the protocols and practices in preparation for the subsequent Sundays when we will open for all members who would like to come for an in-person gathering.
On Sunday, June 28, we plan to re-open our facility to all members and visitors for in-person worship service. We plan to have a pre-registration process and designated seating. You will receive more detailed information about the Sunday in-person gathering in the coming week.
For now the church facility will open for corporate worship on Sundays only. Church staff will now come for work during the weekdays with masks on and practicing social distance. The building will remain closed to the public. In the meantime, let’s remember that the church—the church as people of God—is not closed. In this season we have been reminded that the church is not a building, but a body of people who are committed to loving God and loving one another and extending the love of Christ to others. So we will continue to be a living church through various virtual gatherings, and ministries.
When it comes to re-opening the church facility there are different perspectives and positions. Please pray for wisdom and discernment so that the church leadership will navigate through this uncharted territory with wisdom. Please extend grace to people who may differ in opinions about how and when to re-open the church facility for in-person gathering. I found the following article to be helpful as we prepare to re-open our church facility: “Church, Don’t Let Coronavirus Divide You.” Please give it a read, so that we will keep the bond of peace as a church family.
As I mentioned during my message this morning, let’s keep loving one another fervently and faithfully. One of the ways we can love one another is to serve: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of god’s varied grace.” (1 Peter 4:10). If you have Christ as your Lord, who came to us as the Suffering Servant for us, I know that you want to serve in whatever way you can. I know that you love Christ and love his church. That’s in your DNA. I don’t need to force you to serve, because you will want to serve. And I am so grateful to countless serving members of New Hope. I have too many names and faces to mention here. And I thank God for you; I thank you as a fellow-servant who has this privilege and responsibility to serve Christ and his church at New Hope.
For those of you who are not serving for whatever reason, I want to encourage you to serve in whatever way you can. It does not have to be a service with a title or through a formal ministry. It can be anything to build up one another. If you want to participate in specific ministries at New Hope, here are some specific ministries you can be part of and serve: Getting Involved. There are many ministry opportunities at New Hope, especially in this season. And you can sign up to be a part of a ministry that needs your hands and your help. If you don’t know what your gift is, one way to find out is to start serving somewhere and learn about your gift as you serve. If you have a certain gift you want to use, but you don’t see a ministry where you can apply your gift, please send me an email and we can create and start a new ministry. I envision our church to be a place where every member is fully alive in Christ and every member flourishes as a follower of Jesus. We can be that and we can do that alongside fellow brothers and sisters by the grace of God and the Spirit of God.
And we serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace, you will be strengthened, others will be edified, and God will be glorified.
