This afternoon (Nov. 19) BC's provincial health officer issued an order that all public events in BC are suspended until further notice, and at least until Dec. 7, 2020.
Concordia's Governing Team met for a previously-scheduled meeting immediately following the announcement, and discussed the issue. Team members are unanimous in their opinion that these orders must be honoured. As a result, Concordia is immediately suspending all in-person event-based gatherings, including in-person worship, until Dec. 7.
Church-related events that are exempt from this are funerals, weddings, and baptisms, which may take place with a maximum of 10 people, and so we will still hold these if an occasion arises for any of these.
Those who have already registered for an in-person worship gathering will be contacted personally, and we will be sending out a church-wide email as well as sending a letter in the mail to certain members, to notify them of this.
We will continue to hold our online worship gatherings at 9:30am Sunday mornings.
Our school and preschool will continue to hold in-person classes, as schools are not included in the new orders.
It is still possible to visit the church building for necessary business. However, we would ask at this time that if it isn't necessary for you to visit the building, please consider not visiting. If you do visit, calling ahead to schedule a time would be appreciated, and precautionary measures will be expected, including hand sanitizing, maintaining 2-metre distance where possible, and mandatory mask wearing at all times during your visit. As well, please refrain from visiting if you have any symptoms that could possibly be related to COVID-19.
Having just resumed in-person worship gatherings on November 1, this is a disappointing development. However, we honour our government according to the Fourth Commandment, and seek to act out of love for our neighbours that will not bring them harm but help them in every way according to the Fifth Commandment.
We will continue to monitor things daily, and will update you again on or about Dec. 7, or when any new information is available.