Covenant Family,

Today the government of Ontario announced that churches are able to gather again at 30% capacity. As a part of their Phase 2 announcement (available at https://files.ontario.ca/mof-framework-reopening-province-s…), they also announced they will be providing places of worship with guidance beyond the 30% capacity limit. In consultation with the church board, we wanted to respond to this news to keep you informed as to Covenant's current plans.

As a church our primary goal is to walk with each other as we grow in loving God and loving each other well - inviting others into that journey with us. Loving each other well, during this COVID-19 time, means airing on the side of caution as we plan towards resuming in person gatherings. As a result we will be, for the time being, continuing to gather online and not in person. We will also be actively developing a plan for resuming in person gatherings.

Before we are able to resume gatherings in person we will need a lot of people committed to working together to make it possible and safe. We will need to prepare our spaces - our lobby and our auditorium - to allow for and guide people in social distancing. We will need to recruit and train greeters to help them know and communicate the expectations for those who gather. We will need to develop an entirely new team to maintain our online presence for those who are not able to attend in person or are not comfortable doing so. We will need volunteers to provide cleaning of surfaces before and after gatherings. These are our minimal volunteer needs and more will be likely.

Over the next couple of weeks our deacons and board will be working together to determine what capacity limit we feel is appropriate before Covenant is able to resume gathering. We will also be working on the specifics of what teams need to be in place before we can take that step. Watch for your chance to volunteer as a team leader or to be a part of a team taking care of the various opportunities that will be coming as we reimagine what it will look like to gather together.

Thank you for your patience, understanding, and prayers for wisdom.

With hope,

Jon