Posts

We continue to cautiously move toward returning to normal “In Person” Worship Services. As we move forward we will continue to follow provincial guidelines as they pertain to COVID protocols. We also continue to have our services in a combined In Person / Zoom format.

The Christmas season has arrived, here is a bit of an update on Hanover Mennonite Church activities. A few weeks ago the Grey Bruce Health region entered the COVID-19 Yellow zone. Following all recommended safety protocols we continue to do very reduced attendance “in person” Worship Services at 10:00 AM every Sunday morning, simultaneously these services are provided on the Zoom video/phone conferencing platform. If interested in joining us for any of these services please email us at hmc@wightman.ca during the week before the service so that you can be included in the Zoom invitation.

We are looking forward to doing a “Zoom only” Christmas Eve service on Dec 24^th at 4:00 PM which is also open to anyone wishing to join us. This service will include lots of Christmas music and readings telling the Christmas story. If you wish to attend please email us before Dec 23^rd so that you can be included in the Zoom invitation.

With most of rural Ontario now being at COVID-19 opening Stage 3 Hanover Mennonite is starting to open for in person Sunday Worship Services. We
are following the provincial government guidelines of limiting in person
attendance to 30% of our building capacity as well as maintaining all
relevant social distancing, contact tracing and sanitization guidelines including the use of face masks.
In order to limit numbers we have setup a reservation system where we
are asking anyone wishing to attend to please contact us during the week
before the next Sunday Service. We are also continuing to provide a
simultaneous Zoom/Telephone Conference Worship Service for our members who still prefer not coming to the building. Please contact us if you have an interest in any of these options.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and based on recommendations from the department of health and our various levels of government, we have canceled church services up to and including Apr 5^th. As you have no doubt seen in the media, the nature and severity of the response to this virus is changing on an almost daily basis so at this point we have no idea if we will be able to the resume regular services after Apr 5^th.

Pastor Juanita is exploring and using a variety of ways of keeping in contact with everyone in the congregation through this unknown time using a variety of types of technology ranging from phone calls to email to possibly video conferencing.

Although it may seem like an over reaction we would also like to encourage everyone to follow health department guidelines pertaining to social distancing. Unfortunately this means minimizing contact through such activities as meeting together in homes for meals or other social activities. We would like to encourage everyone to maintain social contact through phone calls, email, etc with everyone. Also, making sure that you are taking appropriate social distance precautions, please reach out and help anyone who might need help. Just making a phone call to see how someone is doing or offering to pick up a few groceries for someone who is less able to get out can make a big difference.

Joesph Grove has completed one thousand quilts. As a teenager he made two quilts before he married. When he retired from the farm in 1989 his quilt making truly began. He sorts his material, irons, cuts the pieces, large pieces first and then moves on to smaller ones. Lena Martin, who has quilted a number of Joseph’s quilts, is impressed with his perfectly cut and ironed squares and enjoys quilting his lovely projects. The small scraps are used for quilts for his family. He has made quilts for all their children and grandchildren. He is now working on quilts for all their great grandchildren. Well done, good and faithful servant. Matthew 25:23