On Thursday, March 26th, Bishop John Chapman issued a second pastoral letter in response to COVID-19. The letter is posted on our parish website.

In it, Bishop Chapman formally advises us that all communal liturgies, as well as all in-person gatherings, are on hold in our diocese until further notice. Unfortunately this means we will not be gathering in our buildings for Holy Week and Easter. We do not yet know when it will be safe for us together in-person again.

The Parish of the Valley clergy team is already in conversation about how will observe Holy Week together as a parish, so please watch our email newsletters and our website for those details. Once planned, we will also be in touch about how to get the information to those in our communities who are not online.

As your clergy, we are all so grateful for the ministry that everyone in the parish is sharing in together as you reach out to each other over the phone and Internet to check in, share news, and keep connected. We truly are living into being the Body of Christ together in new ways as we seek to continue to hold onto our faith in these uncertain times.

Please take time to read the latest pastoral letter from Bishop Chapman by clicking "Read More" below.

During the COVID-19 pandemic the vast majority of our regular church expenses continue. To ensure the continued financial health of our ministries, all members of the Parish of the Valley are encouraged to continue making regular offerings to their home churches. 

Members of the parish can give by mail, through pre-authorized remittances from your bank account (PAR), or by giving online through the website Canada Helps. Every donation matters, so please click "Support Churches" below to find out more about how you can help.

Thank you for your faithful support!

Again this week we invite you to join the clergy team in a service of Morning Prayer. Please follow the link at the button, "Click to Pray" to find where a new Morning Prayer service will be uploaded for you every Sunday morning. Rumour has it that this week's Morning Prayer service will also include some special guests!

There you will also be able to download the bulletin for the service so that you can pray along with us, as well as this week's Valley Bulletin which includes our usual prayer cycles so that we can continue to pray for each other throughout the week.

We would love to see pictures of your home worship spaces! Take a picture and send it to Rev. Matthew or Rev. Gillian and we will create a "Parish of the Valley worships together while apart" post on the Parish of the Valley Facebook page!

In this time of social-distancing and self-isolation it is important to remember that while we are asked to be socially distant, we are never spiritually distant. Our connection with God, and with each other, begins with prayer.

In addition to weekly services of Morning Prayer recorded by the clergy team, we are compiling a list of videos, links and downloadable documents to help us pray together at home across the parish. Click "Prayer Resources" below to find those links and documents. This list will be added to as we discover new resources. 

Your clergy team are always here for you. We will pray with and for you, for anyone, or for any situation. You might also call Wendy Cayen (343-369-0676) and she will direct your request to our confidential prayer chain: a group of prayerful people across the parish committed to praying for your need every day.

While we are required to be socially-separated as we navigate this unusual time of pandemic, we never want to be socially isolated from one another. Click the "Support Each Other" button to find a collection of resources, including information about COVID-19, letters from our church leadership, and other ways we can support each other and care for each other while we are physically separated.

The Holy Week edition of our parish's Revelations newsletter will be released on Palm Sunday, April 5th. A friendly reminder that the deadline for submissions to the issue is this Sunday, March 29th. Submissions from all congregations in the parish can be emailed to our editor, Jean Ostrom, at Ostrom@nrtco.net.

Revelations will be made available as a PDF to everyone on this email list. It is also our hope to mail printed copies of the newsletter to households in our parish that do not have access to email. Funds for this mailing are provided in the grant for communications that our parish received from the diocesan innovation fund.

If you know of friends, relatives, or Church Family members who do not have email, and who you think would appreciate a copy of Revelations by mail, please invite them to call the church office at Holy Trinity Pembroke to confirm their mailing address: 613-732-4658.