Dear members and friends of Grimsby Bible Church,
Over the past few days, the elders have spent a lot of time reading, thinking, discussing and most importantly praying over what to do in the coming weeks. The difficulty comes when we think about the commands of Jesus to love our neighbours and to obey our government which He has placed over us alongside his command to gather as His people.
We have, to the best of our ability, been listening to medical experts, specialists, and other church leaders over the past few days. We are not experts, and none of us have any experience in leading a church or a country during a time of a pandemic of this magnitude. The situation that we are in is a rapidly changing one, with new information being brought to our attention daily.
As of March 16, 2020, Our Prime Minister - a man who is appointed by God over us for our good - has said this: "all Canadians, as much as possible, should stay home". In line with this, our Premier and Minister of Health, in consultation with Ontario's Chief Health Officer Dr. David Williams recommended the closure of all recreation programs, libraries, private schools, day cares, churches and other faith settings, as well as bars and restaurants, except those that offer takeout or delivery. As a result, our elders believe that the best course of action is to cancel all public gatherings for at least 3 weeks. We hope and pray to assemble once again at 10:30 am, on April 5th, 2020.
So what is our plan going forward?
Pastor Mat is hoping to have a Bible study recorded and uploaded to Youtube for Wednesday Bible study. Please plan to log on with your family and take part and afterword spend time praying for your fellow church members, affected neighbours, government and your elders. Plan to call, Facetime, or email a fellow church member to discuss the Bible study in fellowship with the Lord and one another.
Likewise, Pastor Mat will have a sermon uploaded to Youtube for Sunday, March 22, 2020, by 10:30 am. Please plan to watch at that time, and again call, Facetime or email a fellow church member for fellowship. Links to these recordings will be made available on our church's website and Facebook page.
Please continue to set aside your offering, while we are not meeting physically, our plan is to meet spiritually, and as soon as we can, we will meet together corporately, at which time you can lay your offering before the Lord.
Your Pastors will be in contact with you by phone in order to continue to equip, encourage and build you up so that the work of the church can continue.
Please know that this was, and still is, a difficult decision to make. We ask that you would use this time to pray for one another, pray for your elders, and seek to serve others according to the grace that God has given you. By God's grace, we will meet again soon.
With much love and affection,
Pastors Mathieu and Wilfred