Beginning Sunday, July 18th, many of our churches across the Parish of the Valley will begin re-opening for in-person services!
Please carefully review the schedule at the bottom of this page for a full listing of local re-opening dates and service times.
Some services will be celebrations of the Holy Eucharist, while others will be Morning Prayer. As was the case last autumn, a number of adaptations to our usual worship patterns will be in place because of the pandemic. The wearing of face coverings will remain mandatory for all in attendance, including for those among us who are fortunate enough to now be fully vaccinated. There will continue to be no communal singing, and communion will be in one kind (bread only). Physical distancing will also still be required between members of different households, and all attendees at worship will be asked to provide their names and contact information for the purposes of contact tracing.
In an important change, our parish will not be requiring worshipers to pre-register to attend services at any of our church buildings at this time. Total attendance at each service is limited by the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa to 30% of building capacity, however given summer attendance patterns your clergy team is confident that we will have adequate space to accommodate all worshippers. We hope that not having to pre-register to attend services each week will make it easier to rejoin us in-person, and we encourage all members of the parish to please plan to arrive for worship at least 15 minutes in advance of services to assist our volunteers with signing you in and seating you.
While the re-opening of our church buildings is definitely a reason for us to celebrate, we also know that some members of our parish may not feel comfortable returning to worship in-person just yet. This is very understandable given the many risks that continue to be created by the pandemic, and for this reason services recorded in-person at Holy Trinity Pembroke will continue to be broadcast on YouTube and on YourTV Ottawa Valley with a one week delay for the foreseeable future. We hope these service recordings will offer those worshipping from home an opportunity to stay connected with our parish in prayer as we begin to re-open our buildings.
While some of our parish churches will be re-opening on Sunday July 18th, others will not be re-opening until Sunday July 25th, and some not until even later in the summer. A full listing of re-opening dates, services times, and maximum building capacities follows.
Should you have any questions about our parish’s re-opening plans please feel free to contact any member of your clergy team, our main office at Holy Trinity Pembroke, or your local churchwardens. We are all looking forward to seeing you again for worship very soon!
Parish of the Valley Re-opening Dates, Summer Service Times
and Maximum Building Capacities (30%)
Beginning Sunday July 18th
Holy Trinity Pembroke — 9am Service — 75 people maximum
St. Stephen’s Micksburg — 9am Service — 22 people maximum
St. John’s Tramore — 9am Service — 19 people maximum
St. George’s South Alice — 9:30am Service — 24 people maximum
St. John’s Eganville — 11am Service — 33 people maximum
Epiphany Barry’s Bay — 11am Service — 19 people maximum
All Saints Petawawa — 11:15am Service — 30 people maximum
St. Augustine’s Beachburg — 7pm Service — 27 people maximum
Beginning Sunday July 25th
St. Paul’s Cobden — 11am Service — 25 people maximum
Beginning Sunday September 5th
St. Anthony’s Whitney — 9am Service — 27 people maximum