September Update

From Your Leadership Team at Fort Garry United Church,

Since March, the church has been closed and we are worshiping by using Zoom each Sunday, allowing people to sustain their spiritual life and continue their relationships with others in the FGUC community. Rev. Min-Goo Kang conducts the service and Helen Bergen prepares the hymns & music for each Sunday. After the formal part of the service people can "chat" in the Zoom calls. Our e-newsletter, News From The Pews, emailed out each week, keeps everyone connected with information of interest to all members and friends. As well there are phone calls being made to many church members in order to keep up the friendly connections that are so key in this challenging time caused by COVID-19 virus.

 Now, the Leadership Team has been giving careful consideration to how we may proceed to re-open the church for ourselves and our tenants. Because of the uncertainty of the prevalence and spread of Covid-19 in our community at this time, we do not have a firm date for re-opening. It will not be before October 1st. That being said, there is a lot that can be done now to prepare for that opening, so that we can do so safely and with consideration for all groups who gather at the church. 

A FGUC working group has been formed to develop a plan for re-opening the church building. The group will be following the most recent plan from the Manitoba Government, Restart MB, as well as other resources specific to the church setting. The Provincial Plan can be viewed online at https://www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/restartmb/prs/index.html.  We recognize that any plan to re-open may be subject to change if the level of community risk identified by Manitoba Public Health fluctuates. We see the planning required to re-open as a collaborative effort between FGUC and the groups using the facility. Each group will have its own risks to consider based on factors such as group size, proximity between participants, type of activity, equipment management, and so on.  When we determine an opening date, each group will be asked to share this plan with the church prior to beginning to use the facility.  The support and encouragement expressed by our tenants during this period has been most appreciated. The groups are very important to our church community and we aim to provide each group with a community meeting place as soon as it is safe to do so.

We have recently conducted a survey asking our congregation their thoughts about utilizing Zoom for worship and about reopening, and have received some very valuable feedback, which will help in the planning toward a return to worship in the church. We welcome you to join in for our Zoom worship, or if you wish to receive our e-newsletter, or have a pastoral care concern that you wish to discuss, please contact us fguc@shaw.ca or 204-475-1586. The church office although closed, continues to operate, answering emails and phone calls.

Yours respectfully,

The Leadership Team at Fort Garry United Church