Arnprior Presbyterian Church services and gatherings will be cancelled until further notice, effective March 17, 2020.

Below from the Presbyterian Church in Canada …

Decisions about public worship during COVID-19 from the Presbyterian Church in Canada 

The strong and swift response in Canada to measures aimed at reducing the transmission of COVID-19 is encouraging evidence of the care Canadians have for one another. Churches have an important role in this.

This response is evolving daily. Cancellations of meetings and events show that Canadians are willing to do their part to stem the transmission and therefore care for the health of one another. Some of these responses go above and beyond the recommendations of Public Health authorities.

Worship services in various faiths are being suspended temporarily. These are difficult decisions that balance our desire for the public good with our commitment to worship and gathering with the people of God for fellowship and mutual support.

In The Presbyterian Church in Canada, “The session is responsible for regulating the hours and forms of public worship and for arranging special services” (Book of Forms 111.1). This means that only the session can determine if public worship in a congregation will be suspended.

The advice from the National Office has been and continues to be that congregations are urged to follow the advice of Federal, Provincial and Municipal Health authorities and make decisions accordingly. This is the minimum requirement, but it is the first place to go in making a decision about suspending worship services.

If worship services are not suspended, there are steps that can be taken that reduce the risk of transmission even when that risk is low:

• Avoid shaking hands (try “prayer hands,” bows, elbow bumps).
• Wash hands frequently with soap and hot water for at least 20 seconds.
• Ensure surfaces in the church are clean and sanitized.
• Avoid passing offering plates from person to person.
• Consider suspending coffee hour.
• Stay home if you are sick.
• Reschedule communion or avoid passing communion elements and trays and use individual communion cups rather than a common cup with grape juice.
• Place a box of tissues in every pew.
• Encourage people who use our churches to wash their hands and post reminder signs throughout the church.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then immediately throw the tissue in the garbage and wash your hands.

A Message and Prayer from the Moderator re. COVID-19

As the world struggles with the COVID-19 pandemic, our congregations and communities strive to adjust to the rapidly changing circumstances, taking precautions to ensure that people are safe, and caring for one another in faithful and creative ways.

As we began the Season of Lent a few weeks ago, we reflected on Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness and the struggles he experienced. We also may feel like this is a wilderness time—a time of challenges and uncertainty. Even as we take good care to reduce the risk of transmission, we are invited to place our trust and hope in God who is with us and will help us.

The Lenten psalms provide inspiration for this prayer:

“O come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and the dry land, which his hands have formed.
O Come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.” (Psalm 95:1-7)

Prayer

Loving God, we thank you for your presence with your children through the anxiety of the COVID-19 situation.

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff- they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

Thank you for wise leadership and health authorities that guide us in making good decisions for our communities.

“You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance” (Psalm 32:7).

Thank you for doctors, nurses, medical researchers and technicians, and all those who are working to care for the sick and develop treatments for this illness.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1).

Thank you for cleaning staff and caregivers and volunteers, and all who are working to keep our environments clean and safe.

“My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:2).

Thank you for pastors, elders, neighbours, and friends who are working to care for those who are vulnerable, alone or afraid.

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning” (Psalm 130:5–6).

Thank you for the peace and comfort that comes from knowing that we are not alone. God, grant us patience as we wait; grant us courage as we serve you and care for one another; grant us hope as we trust in you for the future.

“O [People], hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem” (Psalm 130:7).

Amen.

—The Rev. Amanda Currie
Moderator of the 2019 General Assembly