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On Thursday, March 26th, Bishop John Chapman issued a pastoral letter in response to COVID-19. This letter is attached below. In it, Bishop Chapman formally advises us that our communal liturgies, our in-person gatherings, are on hold until further notice. We do not yet know when it will be safe for us together in-person again.
This letter was updated further on May 8th with a letter in which we were advised that our church buildings and church grounds must remain closed to all but essential activities until further notice. That letter can be read here, or found attached below. What this means is that only activities essential to the financial adminsitration and maintenance of our church buildings may take place in the churches right now.
On Tuesday, June 9th, Bishop Shane Parker issued another update. In a notice entitled "Churches and Church Grounds Must Remain Closed For Now" we were commended to read the letter from the Metropolitan of Ontario in which the Metropolitan and bishops have asked Ontario Anglicans to observe a time of summer sabbath rest. To quote from the Metropolitan's letter, "What this means is that regardless of where the Government of Ontario is with its reopening plan, our churches will not be reopening for in-person worship until at least September." Bishop Shane's letter can be read here or found attached below.
The Parish of the Valley continues to worship online throughout the summer and our weekly services may be found here. We have a weekly e-newsletter that shares the latest news and ways of connecting across the Parish. The latest newsletter can be found here and you can sign up to receive it in your Inbox each week by entering your email address in the "Sign Up For Our Newsletter" box at the bottom of the website homepage. If you're looking to be connected through prayer, please see our "Prayer Ministry" page. For all other concerns, please feel free to be in touch with a member of the clergy team.
As always, we are so grateful for the ministry that everyone in the parish is sharing in together as you reach out to each other over the phone to check in, share news, and keep connected. We truly are living into being the Body of Christ together in new ways as we seek to continue to hold onto our faith in these uncertain times.
Please take the time to read the attached letters.