As we turn our thoughts to the fall, we intend to continue to explore how virtual worship can be creative and thoughtful, a way to share music and prayer, and a way to stay connected with each other in meaningful ways. We will not be rushing to resume worship inside the Leaside United Church building, even after the renovations are complete in mid-fall. We know from the guidelines for places of worship, that a return would mean a loss of many of the things we value most about church on Sunday mornings – from coffee time to the children’s program to singing hymns, and our wonderful choir. We know many people would not feel comfortable returning in-person, and that creating a hybrid option will take significant time every week, so rather than moving to this too quickly, we will continue to take a considered approach – listening to the health guidelines, learning from the experiences of other congregations, noting how the return to schools affects things, and exploring what makes virtual worship meaningful for us. With all this in mind, we will not be returning to in-person worship until at least December. During the interim, the COVID response team will continue to closely monitor for upticks of COVID 19 positivity in Toronto and if it is evident that cases are on the rise, we will postpone our plans until we can coordinate a safe return.
During this process we continue to value your insight and we will be inviting your thoughts during the fall. In the meantime, we continue to celebrate all the ways we are being church together – from mid-week reflections and photos to Wednesday morning Meet U @ Zoom, from the Crafts group resuming in September to the Meditation group connecting weekly by email, from the committees and teams meeting virtually to our COVID care fund having raised over $7000 in less than 5 months – and of course, our virtual worship and opportunities from sharing in an outdoor baptism to hearing guest preachers, to singing in and listening to more virtual choir projects!
Sincerely,
Rev. Emily Gordon
Anne Raby (Chair of COVID Response Team)
Adele Freeman (Chair of Worship & Nurturing Spirituality Committee)