An announcement

The welcoming committee last September

The persistent question, ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began last March, has been, “When can we go back to church?”

Being together, singing, sharing communion, having coffee hour: these are the things we miss most intensely, and which we really haven’t had, in any recognizable form, for a year and a quarter now.

Last summer, as the first wave was ebbing, we submitted our reopening plan to the Diocese, had it approved, and were able to gather for worship beginning on September 13. At the time, we were allowed to have a maximum of 50 people or as many as could fit in the space with social distancing, whichever was smaller, and we ended up with congregations in the mid-30s in person, as well as continuing to broadcast the worship service on Zoom.

However, instead of being able to gradually return to normal by ramping up the numbers and returning to celebrating the Eucharist, we instead almost immediately went into reverse: case numbers rose, the maximum capacity was reduced to 25, and after three weeks, we made the decision to return to Zoom-only worship.

As of Sunday, June 13, the regulations on the Island of Montreal will be such that we would have the option of going back to the status quo from when we reopened last September – a maximum of 50/capacity with 2m distance. As the summer goes on, that maximum is expected to rise from 50 to 100 to 250, but of course, that makes no difference for All Saints’, with our relatively small worship space relative to the usual size of the congregation.

Meanwhile, as we have returned to broadcasting Zoom church from the sanctuary over the past couple of weeks, we are realizing that we have some catching up to do in technology terms. The effort to reconfigure the sanctuary for hybrid church has been extraordinary, and we are delighted to have gotten to the point where we can lead music live rather than relying on recordings; but “there are still a few bugs in the system”, especially since the team has to set up and break down the whole system every week for security purposes. And while we have had a good response to the call for additional volunteers, we could still use more, and the ones who have volunteered have not yet been trained.

The Corporation talked all this over yesterday (Wednesday, June 2) and came to the decision that we will plan to reopen for in-person worship on Sunday, September 12. (My vacation, incidentally, is July 20-August 16.) This will allow us to “flex”, during the summer, between broadcasting the Zoom service from the church and from people’s homes, as necessary. It will give the tech team time to figure out the new systems and train the new recruits. It will allow folks to come and go from their vacations without worrying that their absence will leave something essential undone.  Everyone over age 11 will have had the chance to be fully vaccinated.  We will be able to clean and prepare the space, and plan for – God willing – a full, festive service to which we can welcome everyone without capacity restrictions, sing together, and share Communion!

It makes me a bit sad to let go of the hope of gathering sooner – and I still sincerely hope that the guidelines for outdoor gatherings will soon permit us to have a barbecue!

Back when we first closed down in March of 2020 – the Third Sunday in Lent – I promised a huge festive Easter service when we gathered again. None of us dreamed at the time that it might be a year and a half before we were able to have it, but our joy will be all the greater when we do!