Dear Mission City family,
Grace and peace to you from the Lord Jesus Christ.
As you know, the government of Ontario has instituted a province-wide stay-at-home-order that came into effect early on Thursday, April 8. Once again, we encourage you to be both prayerful and mindful not only of returning restrictions, but also of how we can use our freedom in Christ to serve one another and to love those around us (see Galatians 5:13-15).
Additionally, we want to make you aware of how these changes impact the ministry of Mission City Bible Church:
- The mission to be disciples who make disciples carries on. Our methods have swung back and forth for more than a year, but our mandate remains steady. Even now, Jesus Christ is building his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18b).
- By God’s grace, we are still able to meet for in-person weekend worship gatherings at 15% capacity. We were not able to do this during the previous lockdown after Christmas. Due to the size of our meeting space, this means we can only accommodate up to 45 people in a single gathering. We are praying about possible ways for us to meet with more people in ways that are both safe and within the provincial guidelines (i.e., meeting outside, additional services, etc.). Some important factors play into decisions like this such as the ability of staff members and serving teams to consistently carry an extra load, as well as the fact that we are using someone else’s property for our gatherings. Please pray with us for God’s clear guidance in these concerns.
- We will continue to meet for in-person weekend gatherings each Sunday at 9:00am and 11:00am. We will meet at 15% capacity and we will observe all the physical distancing and COVID-related protocols. Registration goes live on Thursday evenings, and is required in order to attend in person.
- Our weekend ministry will continue to be primarily online. It is understandable that many people in our family are not yet ready to return in-person. (Let’s continue to pray and extend grace for one another as we miss the regular fellowship we previously enjoyed.) We will continue to livestream our 9:00am weekend gathering on our YouTube channel, and the service will be accessible on our channel any time after the livestream has concluded.
- The church office will be closed for the duration of the stay-at-home order. All our staff will be working remotely but will still be accessible. As needs arise, you can still call our church office number at 226-381-0050 and we will direct your concerns in the most suitable way.
In addition to these updates, we invite you to join us in a “Call to Prayer” as we enter this latest stage of the pandemic. As part of this email, you’ll find a simple prayer guide to help direct our corporate prayers through this time. Use the prayer guide however you wish and feel free to go at your own pace. It’s very simple and we pray that it’s helpful as we ask for the Lord to have mercy upon us through this time. This is the most important thing we can do – please make it a priority to join us in praying for these things.
Grace be with you all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible (Ephesians 6:24).
You are loved,
Your Elders
Ken Connell
Gord Davies
Jeff Kendrick (Pastor of Worship)
Adam Petersen
Kevin Weeks (Senior Pastor)
Reach us at elders@missioncitybiblechurch.ca |
