February 9, 2022 On February 9th, the province implemented a 3 step process to learning to live with COVID and return to a more normal way of life. This has implications for us at Southside within two of the three steps. This update will walk you through what those changes will look like for us in our local context. This is all providing that the City of Edmonton does not issue their own mandates and restrictions. Step 1: From 9 February, Alberta’s Restriction Exemption Program was dropped. This means that individuals are no longer required to show proof of vaccination or a negative test result in order to enter restaurants and cafes. If you remember, when this program came into effect in September 2021, we felt that we could not implement the program for the Atrium (this program was never required for worship attendance) and therefore closed after only one week of being open. With the program now being dropped, that means we are once again able to open the Atrium to our community! In order to give a little time to retrain on the coffee making and get our volunteers in place, we plan to open the Atrium on the 22nd February at 9:30AM. Following this opening, our hours will be Tuesdays and Wednesdays 9:30-2:30 and hopefully Sundays (if we have the volunteers). This is very exciting news and we ask you to pray for this great ministry opportunity in our local community, as well as consider how you might be a part of it in possibly volunteering to serve either a morning or afternoon shift or on Sundays. We want to celebrate this opening with a special discount offer on our egift cards. Purchase an egift card here and enter the promo code OPEN to receive 20% off any card purchase of $20 or more. This equates to almost 2 free drinks with the money you save! Buy one for yourself or gift one to a friend! We are excited to welcome you back to the Atrium. Step 1 also saw the removal of capacity limits for places with a capacity of less than 500 people. This means on Sunday morning we no longer are limited to 1/3 capacity and we can welcome everyone to worship together in person! We will still be offering live service streaming and have no intention of getting rid of this valuable ministry for those unable or uncomfortable to come together in a large crowd. We continue to be thankful for technology on how it has kept us together and will continue to connect us in the future. The final stage of Step 1 begins on the 14th February as children under the age of 12 are no longer required to wear a mask in a public setting. Step 2: Step 2 comes into effect on the 1 March, as long as we continue to see a steady health care system. From this date, masks are no longer required in indoor public settings, so this includes Sunday worship or any other time you are in the church building. We welcome you to wear your mask if you feel more comfortable. We also encourage us all to show grace as our opinions and feelings and comfort levels with the restrictions lifting will vary. Let us choose love and grace. The final element of this process that effects us here at Southside comes in step 2 and that is the limit on indoor/outdoor gatherings are lifted. Indoor gatherings involving food seem to fall under this restriction lifting. Once Step 2 is in place, funerals and church ministries with food will be a possibility once again. We encourage our ministry leaders to consider what it might look like to return to fellowship meals. I apologize for the length of this update. There is just so much that can once again take place in our church life. I understand that for some of you, it is too early and too fast. For others it hasn’t come soon enough. Again, now, more than ever, is the time for us to show grace and reflect Jesus to our brothers and sisters. Have a blessed day and we look forward to seeing you soon. Pastor Jen
29 June, 2021 With all COVID restrictions lifting on Thursday 1 July, we have prepared our space to welcome back everyone who is comfortable joining together! Masks will no longer be required (although if you are more comfortable in them then please feel free to wear them), physical distancing is no longer enforced so our chairs are closer together (with still a bit of distance between rows and smaller rows). We encourage us to all be gracious to each other as we adjust to post pandemic life.
10 June, 2021 Starting today, 10 June, Alberta has entered into Stage 2 of Open for Summer. For us here at Southside we have had more restrictions removed as we enter this next stage of Alberta reopening. From this coming Sunday we are able to gather for Sunday Worship at a 1/3 capacity in our sanctuary. We are able to have just over 100 people (including our tech team who aren’t sitting) in our Sunday Morning worship. We have set out 100 chairs, all physically distanced apart by 6ft and in family cohort groups of various sizes. If you are coming in person, masks are still required as well as physical distancing between family cohorts. We continue to have activity boxes for families and ask that the tables are reserved for families with children/teens.
We are also allowed to being meeting outdoors in groups of 20. We encourage you to plan meet ups for fellowship and prayer with each other. We have started a ladies exercise walking group that hopes to walk in the river valley once a week (if you are interested please let Pastor Jen know) but if you would like to go for a walk, even just around our church community, and don’t have anyone to walk with please let us know and we would love to walk and talk. Public outdoor gathers for events are allowed up to 150 people, so in the coming weeks we hope to book some outdoor fellowship opportunities like our summer picnic. Be looking out for those details. These are just some of the ways that we can begin over the next few weeks to reconnect face to face. As Pastor Jonny mentioned on Sunday, let’s be gracious with each other as we begin to reopen. Some might be more ready and willing than others, but we want to continue to love each other and look out for each other and that requires patience and grace. Have a blessed week! Pastor Jen
4 May, 2021 Following the announcement by Premier Jason Kenney this evening, there are a few changes that will be taking place at Southside over the next three weeks to keep in line with the new restrictions put into place here in Alberta. Sunday Morning Worship: For the month of May we will be pre-recording our services, much like we did at the beginning of this pandemic. This coming Sunday (9th May) we have already cancelled in person worship due to the positive COVID case we had in our church family last week. The restrictions put in place today will allow us to have 15 individuals present at in person worship. Starting on Sunday 16th until the 30th May we will reserve our in person worship space for those in our church family who do not have internet access in their homes. We invite everyone else to join us via our website (or Facebook) and encourage you to utilize the chat feature to continue to create an element of fellowship. AGM: We will be moving our AGM to solely online. We will meet via Zoom at the following link. If you would like to join and do not have internet or a computer/device capable of Zoom we have a phone in option. If you would like to phone in please let us know and we can walk you through that process. Voting for the AGM will also be taking place via survey monkey. Members of the church will be sent an email with instructions on how to cast your vote. The ballot is anonymous. Church Office: We will try and limit the amount of time the office is open as much of the office work can be done remotely. If you need to pop in for any reason, please call first to make sure someone will be in. Thanks for staying with us and we will get through this together! How great will that day be when we can all gather in person to worship and share fellowship :) Blessings, Pastors Jen and Jonny
1 May 2021 Due to an individual who was present on Sunday 25th April testing positive for COVID-19 this week, we will be cancelling in person worship for 2 weeks (2 May and the 9th May). We will be holding online only worship so we encourage you to join us virtually by the link below. We are taking this precaution in order to protect the vulnerable amongst us. Please be in prayer for this individual and their family as they heal from COVID.
16 September, 2020 After six months of pre-recorded online gatherings each week we are going LIVE! On Sunday 20th September at 10:30 you are welcome to join us virtually (Facebook, YouTube or on our website) or physically! If you chose to join us physically please be prepared to maintain physical distance of 6ft from anyone not in your cohort, as well as wear a mask the entire time you are in the building. We are looking forward to this next stage of our journey through the COVID pandemic.
6 April 2020, Good morning Church family!
Happy Easter Week! We hope you are all keeping well. We are encouraged with how we are reaching out to each other and we are so thankful for the care and concern we see amongst our church family. We are truly being the Church and for that we praise God!
This week we have a few special things going on to prepare for Easter Sunday. There is a community scavenger hunt around the local church community taking place all week that anyone is welcome to join, and thankfully the weather is warming up so go hunt those clues! Just in case you missed the first clue, here it is: When the weather warms up this is a great place to have a picnic in our own community.
Good Friday we will be sharing a Communion Service together at 10:30 Friday morning. We will reflect on the events of Good Friday and share in communion together. Please have juice and bread of some sort available to share together at this time. I read of someone making their own communion bread as they had more time to prepare! This could be a great idea if you are so inclined :)
Then Sunday morning we will celebrate together at 10:30 for our Easter Celebration!
Our desire is to get everyone in our church family a copy of the service before Sunday so we can truly be joining together at this time so we will be distributing CD's and DVD's to those households that do not have internet capabilities.
It is going to be a different Easter Week but we will still worship and praise because NOTHING can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus! Praise the Lord!
ZOOM MEETINGS: We are thankful for technology! We recognise that sometimes it doesn't work but these days we are very thankful to have it! We do apologise for those who tried to join our Night of Worship and Prayer last night. Over the weekend Zoom has placed higher security into their system and added passwords to every meeting, thus rendering our previous links expired. To rectify this, we have now created a single meeting code and password which will be the meeting used for EVERY Zoom event through Southside.
The following will take place on this link: * Sunday Morning call in (if you have internet we encourage you to watch instead!) * Monday Night Young Adult Connect Group * Tuesday afternoon Connect Group (OPEN TO ALL!) * Wednesday morning Mum's Connect Group * Wednesday Night Connect Groups (there are 2 groups that meet in different breakout rooms) *any one time event meetings like Good Friday, Prayer Nights, etc...
There is one link you need to save, and one password. Just plan to log in at the right times for the right meetings :)
We would love to continue to see people connected through this means. If you aren't already a part of a group and would like to join one please consider Tuesday afternoons at 2PM and/or Wednesday nights at 7PM led by Glen and Brenda. If you would like to be a part of either of these (and aren't already!) please let us know and we will help you to get you set up.
Thanks for bearing with us. This is new for us all. Here is the link...save it. write it down. You can always join the meeting by either clicking the link below, or by inserting the zoom meeting id and password into the zoom app or browser. Calling in is also an option just dial the number and follow the instructions! To get the password please contact Pastor Jen or Pastor Jonny via email.
Topic: Southside Church Meetings Manually Enter Meeting into Zoom: Meeting ID: 873 260 6827
Dial by your location: +1 587 328 1099 Canada Meeting ID: 873 260 6827 One final note on this...when you enter the zoom meeting you will be placed in a waiting room, this allows us to keep our meeting secure by knowing who we are allowing in. Please be patient while we welcome you in. We will also be opening the meeting approximately ten min before each meeting starts so everyone can get on and ready :)
Happy zooming!
God is doing a new thing in the church and it is exciting to be a part of it! Have a blessed Easter Week. Keep calling each other and connecting virtually!
Blessings Pastor Jen
March 25, 2020 Good morning Church family! We hope that you are keeping well in these days of social distancing. Now that we finally have email back up and running we thought it would be good to send out an email to you all with detailed information for the various ways we will continue to BE the church during these days. Sermons/Bible Studies/Testimonies: Each week we are posting sermons by Pastor Jonny and Pastor Jen, short Bible Studies, and testimonies from our church family. These are posted across 3 different websites, in the hope that you can find the one that works the best for you. Here are the links to each website: Southside Nazarene Church Website YouTube Facebook Each of those websites will give you access to teaching and community. Choose what works best for you or use all 3! The YouTube channel currently has worship playlists on it as well if you would like to know you are worshiping with others in your church family to the same songs each week.
If you need help with any of these websites please call Pastor Jonny or Pastor Jen and we will walk through it with you on the phone or through a Zoom meeting.
If you know of someone in our church family who does not have access to the internet, please let us know as we will be providing CD’s or DVD’s of the audio/video to them so they are able to still feel a part of our fellowship.
Connect Groups: Now more than ever these groups are key in staying connected! On Monday, our young adult connect group met via a Zoom meeting online and we had a great time of study and fellowship from 6 different homes! Connection is still possible. We encourage connect groups to use this method over the coming weeks, and if you are not a part of a regular connect group now might be a great time to join! Monday nights are open for young adults, Wednesday nights are open to all, Wednesday mornings to mums, and Pastor Jonny is leading a new group during this time on Tuesday’s at 2PM for anyone who would like to join. All we need is your email if you would like to join a group and we can send you a link.
Bread Run and Food Bank: As of today, Costco is still donating bread to the church. This means we are able to continue the bread run for the time being. We will be placing the bread outside of the main doors of the church along the front planter box. We will have the bread available from 9-10AM. We thank the ladies who have devoted so much time to the bread run over the years and built relationships with those who come to access it. At this time though we have asked that they remain at home for their own health and safety. They are invaluable to this ministry but we want to look after them and keep them safe! Therefore for the time being it will be either Pastor Jonny or Pastor Jen who is there to distribute the bread. If you know of someone who could use the help please let them know this is still up and running. To continue helping families in our community, we would love to create a mini food bank for Southside. Over the coming weeks there are going to be a number of people and families who find themselves struggling. Being able to provide a food hamper to those in need is a great way to support these families. If you are able to purchase a few extra items on your next shop (or would like to donate money specifically for this opportunity) please do so and drop them off at the church or at our house. Long life items (including box milk) and frozen items (veggies, fruit, ready meals like pizza, etc…) are greatly appreciated.
Giving: We have been asked by quite a few of you how it looks to continue to tithe and give offerings. We want to encourage you to continue to be faithful in your giving. Here are a couple of ways for you to continue to worship through giving. Option 1: A cheque to the church. Writing a check to Southside Church of the Nazarene and posting it to the church (10712 29Ave Edmonton AB T6J 5H7). Option 2: An online donation through our website. You are able to use a debit card or credit card (please use responsibly!) to donate through our very own website. You can do a one-time donation or set up a monthly donation. You are also able to designate the fund, to the general funds or specifically to Building Hope, the Atrium or other ministries. Detailed instructions on how to do this can be found in the attachment in this email. Here is the link to donate from our website: https://www.southsidenazarenechurch.ca/donate-now.html
Church Directory: During this time we encourage you to all be in touch with each other! Call one another. If you need a directory in order to do this please let us know and we will get you one! I would like to challenge you to call 5 people each week, who are outside of the group you usually talk to. Don’t leave out our older church family as we really don’t want to leave them behind in these days and many of them don’t have access to the internet. Phone conversations are going to quickly become vital to so many of us.
Pastor Jonny and Pastor Jen: Finally, we want to remind you that we are still here! We are praying for you, available to you and wanting to continue to serve you in a different way! We are trying to be creative in how Church looks in this time and are excited on how God is going to use Southside to continue to spread His love and grace. If you would like prayer, or are in need of something or even just want to chat PLEASE give us a call! Keep in touch with each other but don’t forget we are here for you too J We are challenging ourselves to call through the directory each week to just check in with you…but you are more than welcome to reach out to us too! We are in this together. The best part of it is that we know that God is in control. He is faithful! In Him and in His strength we will thrive in these unprecedented days. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Have a blessed day and we will speak to you soon!
March 16, 2020 From the desk of the Canada West District Superintendent To our church pastors, leaders, families, and friends:
The word ‘unprecedented’ has been used to describe the daily evolving global uncertainty we are facing regarding the novel coronavirus COVID-19 and its impact on our people. As those whose purpose is to live a life that reflects Christ-like love, I believe we have been given an incredible opportunity to offer hope and to provide ministry to communities that are desperately looking for peace and comfort. I participated in a meeting today that was attended by all our Canadian district superintendents and the national director. The following statement has been unanimously adopted:
We, the leadership of the Churches of the Nazarene in Canada, declare immediate suspension of all “in-person” services and gatherings until further notice.
As churches, we must do our part to slow down the transmission of the coronavirus and protect the vulnerable and compromised who are at most risk of being unable to overcome the virus. Today’s reports show the virus can linger anywhere between 24 hours – 4 days on a surface. We must do all we can to help prevent the spread any further than it already has. Please allow me to address a few concerns that have been presented:
It is noted that when people do not show up at church, the financial resources given tend to go down. We see this challenge every summer and holiday, it seems, as well. I implore our people to not give up the stewardship of the tithe. Learn to give on-line. Call for someone to come take your financial gift to the office. Put it in your safe place until the church meets together again. Expenses still occur and it is important we keep a good reputation within our communities and manage our responsibilities.
How can our church stay connected? Now is the day to embrace innovation! These unprecedented days present creative opportunities for ministry and offer hope. We are being reminded that church is not the building; it is each other. Speak with your pastor and find ways to safely support your church – have phone fan-out lists amongst your people and check in on one another every few days. Hold online meetings so that the work of the church may continue. Offer to do grocery deliveries for those who can’t do these errands themselves. Think of families who need childcare and be creative in finding ways to support them. We are not to fear the future; rather, we are to live in faith. I know God is with us and will continue to be so as we are His light in places of darkness.
I am certain you will be receiving further emails in the coming days from our office. We will try and respond to follow-up questions and offer you support as you provide pastoral care and leadership in your community. Please keep in touch with us and with one another. I am praying for you and your ministry.
Grateful for you,
Rev. Rose Brower-Young District Superintendent, Canada West District Church of the Nazarene
13 March 2020: Many of you might be feeling overwhelmed by the news of the past week regarding the spread of the Coronavirus COVID-19. We continue to monitor all the information and facts made available to us through the World Health Organization, Health Canada and Alberta Health Services, related to COVID-19. At this present moment we are still planning to meet on Sunday for worship service. We will keep you informed and notify you of any changes via email. Updates will also be posted on our Facebook page. As for our mid week meetings, please check with your connect group leader.
The safety and health of our church family continues to be our primary concern. We currently do not have reports of anyone at our church being infected. We do however recognize that there are people within our body that travel for business and pleasure, some of those trips may well be to areas with higher rates of infection. We encourage you to monitor your own health, follow the health guidelines and protocol and remain calm and prayerful during this time.
This Sunday at Southside we will still be meeting together for worship at 10:30AM. However, in order to reduce the risk of transmission, we will not be serving tea or coffee. Offering baskets will be provided at the front and back of the sanctuary. We ask that you continue to refrain from handshakes and direct physical contact. Additional hand sanitizer will be made available throughout the building.
While we value everyone’s participation in Sunday worship, we do understand that some people are at higher risk for infection and may choose to not attend services until the spread of the virus diminishes. According to Alberta Health Services older individuals and people with existing medical conditions, especially related to cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory illnesses, diabetes and hypertension appear to be at the highest risk for infection. We ask that should you meet this high risk criterion you give careful consideration to church attendance and to avoiding large group gatherings.
What if I choose to stay home? We are in the process of live streaming our services but unfortunately at this point in time do not have the technology to do that…we do however publish our sermons online following the Sunday service and you can listen to them on our website. www.southsidenazarene.ca
We encourage you to trust in God through this all, knowing that He is in control and even in all of the uncertainty that He remains faithful and unchanging. He is our peace and it is in times like these that our witness to Him amongst our neighbours and friends shines brightest. Do not worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
