Growing Together in Faith, Hope & Love… we aspire to be vibrant, honest, and inclusive in loving others just as God welcomes us.
To our church family and our guests:
As the Province of British Columbia has called for a temporary lockdown on all social gatherings in all regions of the province (to be reassessed on December 7th, 2020), we have decided to close our doors on all public worship services and programmed activities for the short term.
We believe this is the best response in the short term as it will set a godly example for our congregation and demonstrate our sincere care for the safety of our community. We will use the next few weeks to plan and to prepare for this new challenging season and to mandate a much needed rest for our faithful volunteers, our leadteam and our staff.
Thank you for your patient consideration as we strive to protect our congregation and the community from needless transmission of the virus. We are committed as a church leadership to provide spiritual edification and worship services for our parishioners as it becomes safe and appropriate to do so.
We are looking forward to God’s Best in this time
Grace to You,
from: Pastor Bart on behalf of the Park Drive Staff and Leadteam
Notice from Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada – BC and Yukon District:
This afternoon Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix hosted a news briefing outlining new Public Health Orders that include updated Government guidelines for Faith Communities. Some of these included the following: As of November 19th, indoor worship events and social gatherings of any size will no longer be allowed throughout British Columbia. These Public Health Orders are in effect until December 7, 2020.
Those who are working in church offices who are able to work from home are encouraged to work from home until at least the new year. Essential meetings such as 12-step recovery programs and mental health support meetings may continue with groups under 10 persons and using appropriate Covid protocols.Dr. Henry made it clear that she is shutting down events but not shutting down buildings.
Daycare and after school programs are considered essential services… Baptisms, Weddings, Funerals are restricted to family members only and the 10-person maximum guideline also applies. No reception gatherings are allowed. Masks are mandatory for all indoor public spaces. Travel should be limited and restricted to essential travel only.
What does this mean? It seems clear that we will have to pivot back to online worship services for the next month at least. Recording and streaming services and worship etc. online would be essential for the church community. Personnel used for production and participation in these online recordings are permitted onsite – to the 10-person maximum guideline.
If your church is offering midweek gatherings of 10 or less where meeting in person is essential because of an evident health and wellbeing concern, then these gatherings are allowed. Many would say that loneliness and lack of fellowship are serious health concerns for many people. Dr. Henry made it clear that only small gatherings to address addictions and mental health issues are permitted.
for more information:
https://www.leadforward.ca/covid19/
https://www.bc.paoc.org/df_media/W1siZiIsIjIwMjAvMDgvMjYvMTIvNTcvMzkvM2YxMDU5MmItZmU4Ni00MjM1LTk3NDQtN2Y4ZDBlZTdiMzgwL0NodXJjaCBSZW9wZW5pbmcgU3RyYXRlZ3kucGRmIl1d/Church%20Reopening%20Strategy.pdf?sha=61cfa34d652adc78
