Church Access

In accordance with the Government of Ontario’s closure of all non-essential businesses, the church building is closed and all in person gatherings are cancelled until further notice.

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Should you have any questions or inquiries please call the church phone number at 519-752-8549 and leave a message or email office@fairviewunitedchurch.org.

Live Streaming of Sunday Services.

Due to the COVID 19 Pandemic, we will livestream a Sunday Service each week from the sanctuary until our in-person worship services can resume.

 

“David Garland, the Chief of Staff for the Solicitor General of Ontario, clarifies that although the wording of the government order did not speak to an exception for churches, it was not the province’s intent to shut down people’s access to worship services that are live streamed from the church building as long as that can be done safely on a very restricted basis. He said it is acceptable for the minister and one or two other people to record/livestream a worship service in the church as long as physical distancing protocols are followed.”

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Here is a link to the full article on the United Church of Canada’s pages:

https://www.united-church.ca/news/clarification-ontario-churches-can-stream-worship-their-buildings

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Live Streaming will continue to be presented on the churches Facebook page using Facebook Live. Shortly after the service is completed it is also posted to Fairviews new YouTube Channel. Links to both our Facebook page and the new YouTube Channel can be found on the right side of the main menu at the very top of each page. 

 

An audio (sound) recording will be available on the Ministries/Service Recordings page of the site later in the day of that Sunday or early on the following Monday.

Other Communications related to COVID-19.

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Letters from Rev. Jennifer.

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(The letter below was sent by email with the Order of Service Friday, March 27, 2020 at 6:12 PM)
(The order of service mentioned in the letter can be found on the Orders of Services and Bulletins Page.)

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Hi all,

 

Please find attached the proposed order of service for Sunday.  At this stage, despite the building being closed, and staff needing to work from home, the Ontario Government is still allowing churches to live stream from their sanctuaries.

  

https://www.united-church.ca/news/clarification-ontario-churches-can-stream-worship-their-buildings

As of now, the plan is to live-stream the service to Facebook from the Sanctuary and immediately upload it to YouTube once the service is finished.   The building is closed to all but the small group participating in the service, and we will be observing strict social distancing rules in its production.

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As mentioned, as of earlier this week, aside from this short usage on Sunday morning, the building is closed and Lynne, Deborah and I are working from home.  Lynne is checking the phone messages and office emails frequently.   To facilitate working from home, I will be using a gmail account I created for occasional use, fairviewunitedchurch@gmail.com.   While I can still see/use my church email account from my phone, I'll likely be using this gmail account for most email communication that requires any amount of typing.

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I can still be reached at 613-334-6549 for daytime chats or anytime emergencies, and I do welcome your calls.

I hope you are doing well in this uncertain time and I look forward to connecting with you soon,

Jennifer

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(The message below was sent by email with the Order of Service Friday, March 20, 2020 at 4:13 PM)

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Hi again folks!

Please find attached the planned order of service for Sunday’s worship.   There is much uncertainty in the world right now, and so I felt drawn to offer a fairly familiar worship experience as we feel our way forward.  It doesn’t have all of the parts, but most of them, as I thought worship that looked familiar and sounded familiar might be a nice touchstone at this point. 

 

After reflection and experimentation, I’ve decided to stream through Facebook Live again this week.  We’re using a bit more technology this week than we did last week which should lead to clearer sound, and the powerpoint clearly visible at all times.  While not everybody has Facebook, it allows those who are watching live to participate through the comments, which will be monitored, and I hope to be able to engage with those commenting in some way.  By noon, the service should be uploaded to our YouTube channel where it will be visible to all.

 

Please don’t forget to support the work of the church at this time.  There are a number of ways you can do this.  If you are on PAR (pre-authorized remittance) no change is necessary. 

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If you would like to go on PAR, the form will be on the website shortly.  (the current link seems to be broken… it should be functional again soon)

 

Envelopes can be mailed to the church or dropped into our secured mailbox outside the main door.

 

Online donations are also possible in two different forms.  The first is through your own home bank as an etransfer.  Donations to the general account are made to bookkeeper@fairviewunitedchurch.org and memorial donations to memorials@fairivewunitedchurch.org. Please include your contact information in the comments section, and, in the case of memorial donations, in whose memory the donation is being made.

 

The second method is through CanadaHelps.  As a registered charity, we are automatically listed on their site.  A link to our specific CanadaHelps page will be placed on the website in the next day or so.

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Have a good weekend, Jennifer

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 A note from Lynne.....

The Fundraising Committee has decided to postpone the garage sale due to the uncertainty of the times, a fall sale is being considered and once the date is decided on, I will be sure to let you know.

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(The message below was sent by email Thursday March 19 at 2:34 PM.)

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Friends,

Wishing you good health and peace during what has been a very busy and news-filled week.

While the news has been posted on our website, we wanted to reach out in a more direct fashion to as many of you as possible. 

 

On Tuesday evening the Congregational Board met via Zoom, a virtual hosting platform, and after a lengthy conversation made the difficult decision to close the Fairview building to all public and church events until further notice.   The board will continue to be in at least weekly contact as we monitor the situation and take government and public health unit advice on how to proceed.

 

Many of you were able to join us for our Facebook Live streamed service on Sunday.  I have now created a YouTube channel for us.  So much learning this past week!  For those of you who haven’t been able to access the service through Facebook, you can now find it on YouTube, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0zwryXRUlE  be sure to like and subscribe!

 

Les and I have been working on the sound situation so that the service will be more consistently audible going forward and I have been looking into various streaming platforms to facilitate Sunday worship and potential mid-week gatherings.

 

How we meet for the next little while is going to look a little different.  But please rest assured, CHURCH is not cancelled.  Church is not closed down or on hold.   We are the church.  Each of us together, whether we can see each other in person or not.

 

Regardless of where Lynne and I end up needing to be, the office phone and our emails will be monitored regularly.  If you would like to get a hold of me and I am away from the office, my cell number is 613-334-6549 for daytime conversations, prayer requests or those burning theological questions that keep you up at night.  (tee hee burning…. didn’t see it till after I wrote it)  or anytime emergency contact.

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Prayers and best wishes to each of you,

 

Jennifer