Last week the health officials of British Columbia announced new orders that allow outdoor worship services as well as limited indoor worship services for churches. Yesterday, new “circuit breaker” restrictions were put into effect. As part of these renewed limitations, indoor worship services are no longer permitted during the next three weeks.
The good news is that we are still permitted to host outdoor services (up to 50 people per service). At these services, the safety procedures outlined in our safety plan must be upheld.
What do these new restrictions mean for us during Holy Week?
Our Good Friday service will now only be online. The live-stream will be at 1:00pm Pacific Time and can be found on our YouTube Channel.
We will proceed with our outdoor Easter services. These services will be in the parking lot of Church of Naz. We have rented a large tent with open sides (permitted by the health authorities) to keep us sheltered in case of rain. There will be seating. We encourage you to come, dress warm, wear a raincoat or bring an umbrella, and also bring something warm to drink.
Our Easter services filled up quickly. We had planned to allow 35 attendees in addition to the volunteers it takes to run each service. Since we now have a better sense of our plans, we can safely add an additional 5 attendees to each service and remain within the maximum of 50 people (plus two safety officers). If you’re hoping to attend one of these in-person services (10:00am, 11:30am, or 1:00pm), please register right away. Unfortunately, we are unable to add any additional services.
Once again, I need to stress that these services are not an opportunity to socialize. If you come to a service, please uphold all our safety guidelines (wear a mask, refrain from singing, and keep 2m apart). Additionally, we do not have a lot of buffer time between services: please help us by arriving exactly 5 minutes before the start of your service (no sooner) and leaving promptly afterward. We appreciate your understanding and help!
Throughout this season, we will continue to live-stream services on our YouTube channel at 10:00am on Sundays (including Easter).
Moving Forward
It will not be feasible for us to host full scale weekly outdoor services. We will host some outdoor services during April and May. Our team is still developing our plans and we will update you as soon as they’re ready. We appreciate your patience.
