Dear Church Family;
The health and safety of our families and our team members is of the utmost importance to us. Since the last time we met we have been keeping up to date with the shifting recommendations from the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Nova Scotia Health Authority. We are also following how government services, businesses and other churches are addressing these recommendations.
As of the morning of June 25th, Premier Steven MacNeil on behalf of the province announced a number of regulations being lifted across the province. These changes include the ability for people to gather in groups up to 10 without physical distancing, and meeting in places like churches at 50% capacity with physical distancing. You might be wondering if or how Stevens Road United Baptist Church would make use of these altered restrictions.
We have been using a ‘take it slow approach’ to reopening, and we are continuing to do so but some changes are on the way. Starting in early July small groups of teens will begin to meet with the option to make use of the gym and one upstairs washroom. Small groups of kids will begin to meet soon after that in much the same way. Along with that we are planning to start on site worship services on August 2nd. These services will look fairly different than what we were doing prior to closing for COVID. For starters, you will need to preregister to attend and we will be holding them in the gym. Being in the gym helps us to have easier access to washrooms, and eliminates the need for the lift which we could not use and stay physically distanced.
That said we do want to continue to encourage and help set up ‘Home Churches’. Since March most of us have been worshiping only with the people we live with but this new ‘group of 10’ gives us the opportunity to invite other people into our homes so we can worship together. To be clear the instructions from the Province are ‘People can now gather in groups of up to 10 without physical distancing. People in a group are not required to be exclusive but they are strongly encouraged to maintain a consistent group.’ We want to help link up those who are willing to host a House Church with those who are willing to be hosted.
We will also continue indefinitely having a digital church experience for you. So if you are unable to come onsite on a Sunday or just do not feel comfortable with being here yet, you still have a way to worship with your SRUBC family.
Another update will come out in a few weeks but until then let me remind you all of the ways you can grow in your faith in Jesus and connect as a body throughout the month of July.
Each week we are having a digital church service that includes children’s time, prayer, announcements, bible reading and preaching. An order of service is also being e-mailed out each week.You do not need a Facebook account to watch it ‘live’ on Sunday. You can catch the service at this link https://www.facebook.com/stevensroadbaptist/posts
The same digital church service will be broadcast ‘live’ on YouTube at 10:15am and it will be able to be watched on demand after that.No account is needed to watch this video. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2JHFcCjsMQQoCeGALWg6Jw?view_as=subscriber
House Church- Please consider hosting or joining in with someone to watch the digital service together
The Sunday sermon will be uploaded to our podcast by Monday afternoon. no account needed to listen. You can also find this podcast using your favourite podcast app. https://stevensroadbaptist.podbean.com/
On Sunday Morning at 10:15am you can come to the church parking lot and listen to our digital service via FM radio signal 88.5 FM. This service is the same service that will be broadcast on Facebook and YouTube.
Each week between Friday night and Saturday night an order of service e-mail is sent out to everyone on our mailing list. This e-mail has up to date announcements, prayer prompts and various links to click so you can listen to music, watch or listen to our Sunday service.
We are encouraging staying in contact with one another through phone calls, text messaging, e-mails, and even old fashion letters.
Following the YouTube and Facebook service premieres we will also be hosting a Zoom coffee and tea time for anyone interested in having a 30ish minute conversation and seeing each other’s smiling faces.
And lastly, we understand that money may be a personal issue for you and your household in this time but we ask that you please consider giving on your normal schedule if possible. We accept e-transfers (etransfer@stevensroadbaptist.ca), we can set up automatic withdrawals, checks can be mailed, picked up or dropped off through the church’s mail slot handy the office door. We also want to say thank you for being faithful in your giving so far, it has been a blessing.
We want to make sure that whether you are ready right now to be in the church building, or wanting to worship at home on your own, or are set to get together with a small group, we are developing worship opportunities for you. No matter what choice you make that best reflects your comfort level, know that you are part of this community of faith and you are being prayed for. Please pray for all of the various leaders of the church as we seek to make the wisest decisions we can make with ever shifting rules.
Pastor Christopher
On behalf of Staff, Deacons, Trustees, Christian Education, Worship and Finance