Dear Church Family,
I have a rather long update for you this week … please bear with me to the end. The quality of “patience” keeps popping up J Thank you for your continued patience.
We have a guest preacher this week: Eastern Synod Bishop Michael Pryse. With 5 weeks centered around “Bread of Life” this summer, it is good to hear another voice on the topic.
Figuring out life and church life continues to be a challenge. With Covid 19 still in the community and public health measures gone it is hard to know how best to proceed. I have been using the Saskatchewan “Know your risk checklist” to help me make decisions for myself and for our congregation. If you are using this to guide your return to church here are some of the things we are doing to make in-person worship safe:
We wear masks for church – this way we can sing
Ventilation – we keep the windows open for the service
Spacing – there is an empty pew between households
Time – I am trying to keep services as brief as possible.
Numbers – we are limiting worship to 35 people a Sunday at this time. When we are sure it is safe to increase numbers we will do so. We will continue to keep a list of who attends worship just in case we need to do contact tracing.
Shared activities – we do not pass the offering plate, we share the peace in a safe (non-touching) way, bulletins are handled by one person
Speaking – the pastor and worship assistant are 4 m. away from the congregation when they speak without a mask
Holy Communion – we are sharing communion in a manner suggested by the synod during the height of the pandemic. You do not have to come forward for communion and you can also choose to receive only the bread. We are using a pouring chalice (wine & grape juice) so that only the one receiving communion touches their own individual glass.
You are welcome to attend worship in person, but you are also welcome to attend worship on-line. Come back to worship in-person when you feel you are safe to do so. I miss seeing you, but I want you to be safe. I eagerly look forward to seeing you face to face!
We have been recording the Sunday morning worship service with mixed success. I understand that some people have had trouble with garbled audio and others have no such issue. I don’t know why this is and people who know more than I about this sort of thing are trying to rectify the problem. We are still learning how to provide a dependable worship service on-line and in-person. Please let me know if you are experiencing difficulty with the recorded services.
God bless and keep you safe,
Pastor Marilyn
Link to website: www.augustanasaskatoon.net
Link to the recorded service will be available later in the day Sunday (that means if you have got in the habit of attending worship services in your pj’s you will have to keep them on all day to continue doing so).
The link from our website remains the most reliable way to reach the recording.
Link to worship by phone: 306-205-1168
Link to “Know your risk checklist: