Not Giving Up Meeting Together
Dear Church,
Ontario government officials have stated that we will enter Step 1 of reopening the province once 60% of the population has received at least one dose of the vaccination. As of the writing of this email, we are at 58%. In Step 1 outdoor religious gatherings I think that COVID and the continual lockdowns have taken a toll on all of us, in ways that we may not be aware. I’ll give you an example. When I turned 50 years old, I visited my family doctor to get a full health check-up. Thankfully, the results showed that I was healthy in every way -- blood pressure, resting heart rate, cholesterol, and all the rest, except in one area. My vitamin D was lower than normal, and I was told I had some low bone density. Now, it wasn’t the first time I’ve been told about my low vitamin D levels. I always thought it was because I scheduled by doctor’s visits sometime around my birthday in January, where my exposure to the sun was at a minimum. I concluded that if I saw my doctor in July, I would show no issues regarding my vitamin D deficiency. We may never know. I am pretty confident, however, that my vitamin D deficiency is directly related to my low bone density.
Why am I sharing all this boring stuff about my health? It is to illustrate that there may be, in all of us, the early onset of some spiritual health deficiencies. None of us are denying the existence of God or abandoning the faith, but because of what COVID has done to alter our life rhythms and our spiritual disciplines, there is, most likely, a hidden spiritual health issue that we all might have.
COVID has deprived us, most noticeably, of gathering together as a church. That is no minor part of our spiritual diet. If we look back to the formation of the people of God in the Old Testament, we see that they were called to gather together. When they gathered, they celebrated the things God had done, they confessed their sins and received atonement, they worshiped in song, the listened to the reading of God’s Word. In the New Testament, the people of God continued to gather regularly, even daily, at the very beginning. When they gathered, they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the breaking of bread, to fellowship and prayer. In fact, in what is the most cited verse about gathering together, it is a command that we are to gather as his people. Here’s the verse in its context:
(Hebrews 10:23) Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
The church, by definition, is the gathering of God’s people. To gather is implied in the Greek word for church, ekklesia, which means: a gathering of citizens or an assembly of people. So technically, when we say, “I’m going to church” it doesn’t mean the building or the address. It means, “I’m going to the gathering; I’m going to where God’s people are gathering.”
When it comes to spiritual disciplines, they can be divided into personal disciplines and corporate disciplines. The corporate disciplines include the many things that occur during a typical Sunday service like, corporate prayer, corporate sitting under the preached Word, corporate confession, and corporate singing. If we continue to deprive ourselves of these corporate spiritual disciplines, there will be a negative spiritual result, whether you recognize it or not.
Most of us are now vaccinated, the COVID cases are dramatically decreasing, so I encourage you to get ready to return to the assembly, to the gathering, to church. Here’s how we are preparing for that:
As the Ontario Government implements their 3-step process of reopening, our church is preparing to gather for outdoor worship on Sundays. When Step 1 is officially announced to begin, it will allow for churches to worship outdoors with no limit as long as there is 2-meter social distancing. Therefore, CoaH will meet physically in the church parking lot beginning the Sunday after Step 1 is implemented. This can be as soon as Sunday, June 13 as the percentage of those vaccinated is almost at 60%. However, if everything is on schedule, the first outdoor worship service would be Sunday, June 20.
With that said, here are some things to keep in mind:
You will need to pre-register on the church website, as we have done in the past to attend in-person worship.
Service will begin at 2pm. Please come a little early to find your spots.
We will gather and worship in the main parking lot on the east side of the building (Victoria Park Lot).
The stage will be on the stairs of the east building entrance.
You will have to park your cars by the McNicoll Ave lot (more details will be provided).
We ask that you bring your own lawn chairs (some chairs will be available if you don’t have) and upon arrival, socially distance yourselves (families and households can sit together) but sit as close to the stairs as you can.
Bring an umbrella, hat, and sunglasses if you wish to protect you from the sun.
If there is a chance for rain, we will make the final call by 12pm on Sunday and if the weather doesn’t hold up, we will make the announcement and ask that you stay home and join our live-stream online.
Live streaming will be available for those who cannot join us.
Once we enter Step 2 of the reopening, we will move our worship services indoors at 15% capacity which is around 120 persons.
Soli Deo Gloria
Pastor Peter
