June 10thMCEC Encourages Congregations to Carefully Assess Their Readiness to Reopen
Finding Our Way To The Next Normal
The news released this week from Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s office has been met with both a sense of gratitude (we are making progress) and confusion as we figure out what this really means. You can read the news release here. To date, there has been no such announcement from Quebec and New Brunswick. As a community of faith that spans Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, we have an opportunity to give thanks and to celebrate how the work of all of us in caring for each other has helped us to avoid the dire predictions that came with COVID-19. The values we exhibit by attending to the health of the vulnerable within our society, caring for those who are called to serve in the midst of crisis, and in general just trying our best with the circumstances are remarkable. These values continue to be of great importance as we enter new parts of this journey in this pandemic.
Before considering re-opening, there are important questions to answer regarding careful assessment, planning, and thoughtful attention to appropriate protocols for physical distancing, sanitation, safety adaptations, and modified worship practices.
As congregations, you are considering your options and trying to do so in the best possible ways. MCEC is similarly assessing the situation and how this announcement alters the course from here forward. Given the learning journey we are all on together, we suggest that before considering re-opening, there are important questions to answer regarding careful assessment, planning, and thoughtful attention to appropriate protocols for physical distancing, sanitation, safety adaptations, and modified worship practices. As such, MCEC recommends that congregations do not immediately re-open their facilities but give themselves adequate time to do the assessment and preparations required for their context.
MCEC recommends that congregations do not immediately re-open their facilities but give themselves adequate time to do the assessment and preparations required for their context.
As congregations begin to explore what is required to meet safely in church facilities, MCEC continues to advocate for the role of Public Health in each of our communities in determining what is recommended. The pace of new information and on occasion the apparently conflicting statements of experts invites us to appreciate the role of Public Health officials in providing the most reasonable and rational guidance in light of current information and science available.
We are learning together. This is a time of disorientation where we don’t “know” what is the right path forward. Each congregation will face unique challenges and so the most prudent encouragement we can make is take your time, plan carefully and recognize that God is working at this time in many ways that will bear fruit in our lives.
We invite you to check out the pandemic resources on the Mennonite Church Canada website that can speak into these questions.
- The article, “When your Church Re-Opens, Here’s How to Meet Safely,” might be helpful. As further resources to assess readiness to reopen are available, congregations will be notified and the resources will be added.
- MCEC’s webpage “New Normal” is intended to be a space for sharing and learning together, so please share the resources you are finding to help all of us with these big questions.