A Moment Aside for 27 November 2020

 

A Moment Aside ---- 27 November 2020

 

     This isn’t the normal devotional. It’s more of an invitation. On Sunday, November 29, St. John’s will again do our best to open the church again for in-person worship. We will celebrate a service of Holy Communion for the first Sunday of Advent at 11:00am in the sanctuary.

     Because of that, I will not be holding the usual on-line service at 11:00am that day. (Very few of us can be in two places at once.) The service in the sanctuary will be recorded and I intend to up-load the recording to YouTube once I return home. I hope to have it available for you to watch by 12:30pm that day. At least, that’s what I have planned. Once it’s up-loaded, I’ll send a note including the invitation and the site to watch the service.

     Here are the plans for the upcoming weeks. This remains tentative due to the possibility of the Provincial health authorities moving our area to “shut down” mode if the spread of the virus requires it. I’ll keep you informed. Until such time, this is our plan:

            Sunday, November 29       11:00am      Holy Communion in person (later on YouTube)

            Sunday, December 6          11:00am      Word & Worship on YouTube

            Sunday, December 13        11:00am      Holy Communion in person (later on YouTube)

            Sunday, December 20       11:00am      Word & Worship on YouTube

            Thursday, December 24     7:00pm      Holy Communion for Christmas Eve in person*                                                                                      (later on YouTube)

            Sunday, December 27       11:00am       Holy Communion for Christmas in person*                                                                                              (later on YouTube)

 (* these two service will be substantially the same, allowing more people to attend  considering the limits to the number of worshippers the church can have in it at one time.)

     Under the circumstances, the council and I feel this is the best we can do to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in this time of pandemic. If you wish to attend any of the in-person services, be sure to call Rita Rupar, the council secretary, to let her know you will attend.

     I hope to see many of you at one or more of these services. Please continue to take care of yourselves and take no chances with your health. If you decide not to attend, I will understand, and in any event, please continue to pray for the congregation, for the area in which we live, and for me.

                                                                                                                        Pr. John