If you followed the news on Monday, you saw that our province has announced it is moving to the next phase of reopening and has given churches permission to open their buildings to 30% capacity. This is positive news as it shows good progress in our province.
So the question is, what will we do at Connexus?
One of the amazing things about the last 3 months is that while our physical locations have closed, we continue to grow online and reach new people. We’re reminded that the Church isn’t the building, it’s the people.
As we’ve shared before in a few places, safety and quality of experience for our guests is our highest priority when we consider reopening locations.
To that end, we believe that, currently, Connexus online is a better and safer experience than we would be able to provide in-person on a Sunday morning at our Central Facility.
Under the current regulations, 30% of our auditorium would only allow us to host 105 total volunteers and attendees in a single location, which is a fraction of our total congregation. In addition, the requirements for social distancing and safety for kids would also limit our programs. Combined, in my view and the view of our leadership team, that would not be a great experience for anyone, most importantly your unchurched guests.
As for other Connexus locations, currently, Cineplex theatres (like other larger gathering places) are not open and they have not set a date to reopen. We are in an ongoing conversation with them.
So…what can you do? Here’s how we’ll make it a fantastic summer:
- More solid experiences with Connexus online
- More small groups
- More outreach in your neighbourhood (you can connect with your neighbours again and share what you love online)
Our small groups have been a big part of this season in our church. In addition to meeting online, our small groups can now meet face to face in groups under 10 at their discretion. Adult small group leaders have details and guidelines for this.
I think it’s important for us to lead the way in advancing our mission and the best way to do that right now is through increasing our efforts online to create the best experience for you and your friends we want to reach. Join me in praying for this.
I know that a delayed opportunity to attend a location is disappointing for some. I really miss meeting face to face, but I’m also very encouraged.
Here is the great news in all of this:
- We are reaching more people than ever. Recently, we’ve been seeing approximately 2,200 on Youtube consistently each Sunday since Easter. This past Sunday we saw a spike of over 4,000. Unchurched friends are joining us – let’s keep inviting!
- We can make the Sunday experience even better given the increase in gathering size. Five was pretty limiting for our hardworking production team, but increasing the number of people allowed on Sundays changes so much for our production team! That means a better online experience for everyone.
- Our students now meet LIVE online each week, and our Kids Ministry has some great resources for you. Check them out here.
- Our cities and province are making progress in the fight against COVID as we move to the next phase. We anticipate that this will begin to open up more opportunities for us to be FOR our cities.
While reopening our locations in the near future remains unknown, we continue to monitor the situation and stay in contact with local leaders. We will keep you updated as we learn more.
But here’s what I know, lives are being changed and people are being reached!
Let’s continue to have big hearts for those who are joining us and let’s be continuing to invite the people we love to join us online.
Thanks for partnering with us to reach people!
