Gathering In-Person
Our plan includes two services a week, with time to sanitize high-touch and high-traffic areas between services. Each service can accommodate approximately 22 household groups, seated 2m apart. Contact tracing information will be collected for all households in attendance, and can be provided up to 6 days in advance to save time when you arrive.
Some familiar activities are not permitted. There will be no congregational singing. Food and drink may not be served or shared. No items or objects will be shared with those outside your household/social circle.
Sundays, at 10am. Contemporary Language service, using the BAS and other more recent resources. With some hymns, organ music, limited singing, (congregational singing is not permitted). Complete Order of Service leaflets provided weekly.
Wednesdays, at 10am. Using the Book of Common Prayer. Bring your own copy of the BCP. If you do not own a BCP, one can be provided to you for the duration of our Amber Stage restrictions.
All participants for in-person worship will wear a mask, and keep 2m distance from those outside their household/social circle while at the Church of the Apostles.
If you cannot wear a mask, we welcome you to participate in remote worship.
If you do not have a mask, one can be provided for you through the generosity of the Merry Mask-Maker project.
Deciding/Discerning
In-person worship is not the right choice for everyone: We are committed to including both in-person and remote communities in our worship.
Because our community includes children and immune-compromised individuals, we cannot offer any assurance that all participants of in-person worship will be fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Our hope is that all members for whom the vaccine is medically advised will take this action towards community wellness and care.
If you have made the choice to attend in person: You are required to make a self-screening assessment. If you answer "yes" to any of the following questions, you must not attend in-person worship.
In the past 14 days, have you been in close contact with someone who is sick or has confirmed COVID- 19?
In the past 14 days have you returned from travel outside Canada?
Are you experiencing any of the following symptoms:
Fever (=>37.8 C)
Cough
Difficulty breathing
Sore throat, trouble swallowing
Runny Nose
Loss of taste or smell
not feeling well
Nausea, Vomiting, diarrhea.
Choose which service you prefer to attend: As much as possible, Sunday and Wednesday will continue as separate cohorts, with minimal contact between the two congregations. You may change your mind at a later date about which service you attend. While numbers are limited, we ask you NOT to participate in more than one in-person service each week.
Preparing to Attend In-Person Worship
Pre-Registration: We are required to collect contact information for everyone who gathers for worship. To streamline the time it takes to arrive, be welcomed, and find your seat, contact the office to pre-register. If you send an email or leave a message, be sure to include all the information that will help us prepare for your arrival:
The Day and Date of the service you plan to attend.
A Name and contact phone number for your group.
The number of people all in the same household or social circle who will be seated together with you.
Any names or special petitions to include in the prayers of the people.
A "group" might be any size from 1 to 8 persons (unless you think you could fit more in a single pew!)
You may pre-register for any service up to 6 days in advance. If your plans change or your become unable to attend, please let us know so your reserved seat can be made available.
Please "Go" Before you Go: To reduce traffic, contact with surfaces, and the work of our sanitizing volunteers- please plan to use washrooms at home before you arrive. The single-user accessible washroom is available for emergencies.
Packing the right items to have with you: Preparation can make for a more enjoyable experience, and help us include you more fully in the service. Consider bringing with you the following:
a cushion (These are difficult to sanitize effectively and have been removed from the pews)
a Book of Common Prayer (Wednesdays only).
Crayons/Colouring Pencils and a hard surface to write on. (At ANY age, sitting and waiting for a service to begin can be boring. On Sunday only, colouring sheets reflecting the readings for the day will be provided in each seating area)
If you do not have access to any of these items at home, they can be provided to you. But they cannot be shared, and must be taken home with you after each service you attend.
There are no shared coat-racks, everything you bring with you (coat, boots, bags) will be worn or taken to your seat with you.
What to Expect at the Church of the Apostles
As you arrive: you will enter by the Bell Tower doors off Glasgow St, or if you use the elevator, through the parking lot doors. A Greeter will confirm that we have your information for contact tracing and confirm that you have self-screened. They will check you off the pre-registration list, or take your name and number for contact tracing. You will maintain 2m distance from other groups that are arriving, and enter the church in an orderly fashion. Doors will be open 40 minutes before each service, plan to arrive early if you are able.
If you did not pre-register, you will be admitted for worship if space is available for you. If we have reached capacity, you will be offered a reserved space at the next service.
Even if you have a key, do not enter by the Garden Door.
Thank you for your Generosity: To avoid contact while passing an offering plate, there is a stationary offering basket placed in the center aisle. If you wish to make an offering, please place it in this basket as you enter.
Find your Seat: alternate pews have been roped off to allow distancing between pews. Each pew is long enough for separate groups to be seated at each end. You will find an Order of Service in the pew when you arrive (Sunday only).
There are two marked seats in each seating area. Groups of three seated together can share a pew with a single individual in the opposite seating area. Groups of four our more may occupy the full pew.
Once you are in your pew, you will remain seated and facing forward.
But I don't Like to Be on Camera: You may be visible on camera to those who are participating by remote. These parts of the service are not recorded and will not be shared outside the community present in the remote chapel.
With Prayers on your Lips and Songs in your Heart: There will be congregational responses and prayers. Please participate at a normal speaking volume, with your mask on. While hymns are being played, the words will be provided in your order of service. You may sing "in your heart" or under your breath.
If you need to use the washroom please go to the hall level the same way you entered, either by the bell tower stairs, or by elevator. Use the available sanitizer before entering the washroom, and as you leave. Only the accessible washroom is available during services.
Changes in the Chancel: You will notice some of our furniture moved, and some new additions. The chairs are difficult to sanitize effectively, and have been stacked to the side and will not be used. The Lectern has moved to a more central location, so that all readers and leaders can be visible to those in the pews, and participating by remote.
A new "Low Altar" was formerly used by the St. Matthias congregation in the time between the closing of that building, and the amalgamation that created the Church of the Apostles. This piece of our history is both beautiful and useful, and allows us to celebrate the Eucharist at a central location that is visible to all those seated in the pews, and those participating by remote. The high altar will be used for feasts and special celebrations.
Receiving Communion: once we begin celebrating the Eucharist, the congregation will receive in one kind only. Taking care to maintain distancing between those outside your household/circle, you will come forward and receive bread into your hand from the Priest standing before the low altar (St. Matthias' table). With your mask still on, you will move to one of two receiving stations 2m (or further) or more away. Those seated on the right hand side will go to the station on the right side. Those seated on the left side will go to the Lady Altar. STANDING, You will carefully remove your mask by the ear-loops or ties, consume the bread, replace your mask, and sanitize your hands before returning to your seat.
After the Service: Check and ensure that you haven't left personal items in your seat, and kindly drop any papers you don't wish to take with you into the recycling bins on your way out. As music plays, you will exit in an orderly fashion, maintaining distance from those outside your household/circle. Beginning with the rear pews, please exit through the doors you came in.