News

Thank you for joining us at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Erbsville.

A new Service has been recorded and posted for your enjoyment. Thank you Dan! June 19, 2022 is now available.

Service at St. Paul’s is 11:00 am on the 1st & 3rd & 5th Sunday of each month, and 9:30 am on the 2nd & 4th Sundays..

As stated in our “In-person Worship Guidance – ELCIC” post we are no longer recording and posting every Sunday’s worship. We provide recordings of previous services for you to enjoy. Thank you Dan!

Click on a link below and worship as if you were there, because you are here…

Previous Services available:

Best wishes,

Church Council

This week (June 10, 2022) the Eastern Synod provided new guidance with respect to Covid protocol. They have approved both indoor and outdoor gatherings and that social distancing is not required. The wearing of face masks is no longer a requirement but is still recommended. Communion may include bread and wine as long as the leader wears a mask and single cups are used. As we have from the beginning of this pandemic St. Paul’s will be following the Synod’s recommendations.

With this positive news Council has decided we no longer need to provide recorded services on-line every Sunday. Please join us in-person! Past services will remain on our web-site and future Special services will be recorded and posted.

From now on you will only be receiving Special Notice e-mails from St. Paul’s Lutheran Church – not every Saturday as during the pandemic – so please open them right away!

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The Eastern Synod has communicated with all member churches regularly during this pandemic and we now attach a link to their latest publication: https://easternsynod.org/covid-19-update-march-10-2022/

We have continually followed their guidance and therefore highlight Bishop Pryce’s words therein: “I would encourage all congregations to continue using masks for the time being.”

This practice will continue at St. Paul’s to our Annual Meeting and possibly beyond. Thank you for your care for all others.

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An update… St. Paul’s Council has declared March 6, 2022 at 11:00 am as our Return to In-person Worship date. Please spread the word. Let us gather as a family and celebrate this next step towards “the good old days”.

Please remember that masking, hand hygene and physical distancing requirements continue, and that the Eastern Synod has given “strong support for vaccination”.

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Previous Notices:

We will Not be returning to In-person Worship yet. The Eastern Synod has stated we should wait until at least February 20. Our decision of when will be coming in the near future. This pandemic is unpredictable. A link to the Synod’s recommendation can be seen via: https://easternsynod.org/covid-19-update-january-24-2022/

Our original notice of Service suspension remains below.

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Due to the rising number of Covid cases, and the restrictions implemented by our provincial governments, the Eastern-Synod has issued a notice asking all Congregations to suspend all in-person worship services for at least 4 weeks, effective immediately.

This news is disheartening, but not surprising.

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, in partnership with St. Peter’s, will be creating virtual services once again for all members, family and friends to view from your homes, or anywhere. Let us thank our organist Dan Amorim and Pastor Olaf Poulsen in advance for their dedication to our parish. Notice of our service’s availability on our web-site  will continue to be sent on Saturdays.

The Eastern Synod’s communication can be read on their web-site via this link: https://easternsynod.org/covid-19-update-january-3-2022/    We will be receiving further direction before the end of January and will provide you with updates when available.

Offerings may still be mailed to, or delivered to, St. Paul’s or our Chair David Kachik (address on our web-site). Thank you in advance for your support.

Stay Safe everyone!

Blessings,

St. Paul’s Church Council

Our Joint Christmas Eve Service of 2021 was recorded and is now available for you to enjoy at home.

Thank you Dan, Pastor and Eryn for making this possible.

Sunday December 26th Joint Service will be held at St. Paul’s at 10:30 am.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Peace be with you.

St. Paul’s Church Council

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Erbsville

To St Paul’s Members and Friends,

We are excited to invite you to join us as we resume in-person worship on Sunday September 19, 2021 at 11:00 a.m.  

Thereafter, we will continue with our usual rotation of service by worshipping at 9:30 am on Sunday, September 26.

Our time at church will look and feel much different as we become accustomed to new ways of gathering. While we look forward to hosting in-person worship, it’s unrealistic to expect things to be as they were before the pandemic. We will also continue to offer on-line services for those who don’t feel comfortable at in-person worship and it will air the following week on our website: stpaulserbsville.ca

We ask you to follow these practices when you join us for worship:

1.     You are asked to self-screen before making your way to church. If you feel unwell, you have travelled in the last 14 days, or have been exposed to someone with Covid 19, please do not attend the service.

2.     We will need to register your name and phone number for Public Health contact tracing. Sanitized pencils will be available, and please print legibly.

3.     Maintain a 2 meter distance from people who are not in your family bubble.

4.     Wear a mask at all times through-out the service (in accordance with the Waterloo Region Bylaw). Masks will be available for those who need one.

5.     There will be hand sanitizer available at the front door. You must use the hand sanitizer upon entering the vestibule of the church.

6.     As you enter the church itself an usher will direct you to suitable seating. We will be using every 2^nd pew to satisfy our need of physical distancing. Pews not in use will be roped-off. Members of family bubbles will sit as a group, of course.

7.     Communion will not be included in our service in the foreseeable future.

8.     There will be music in our worship along with soft singing and spoken responses with masks on.

9.     Do not gather in the vestibule before or after worship as this will make it difficult for others to enter or exit the building. We are blessed with 2 large grassed areas and a parking lot outside in the fresh air to enjoy the company of others.

10.  At the end of the service Pastor Olaf will ask members to leave by the last pews first and then the rest follow one pew at a time.

11.  The Offering plate will be at the inside entrance of the church where you are greeted – not passed from person to person.

12.  Hymnals will be used and are to be left on your bench after service so they may be sanitized.

If you have any questions please contact Pastor Olaf at 519-725-3023 or David Kachik at 519-746-5661 or Craig Bailey at 519-2600-0812.

Blessings,

St. Paul’s Church Council

                                                                                                                         August 29, 2021

On Tuesday July 6, 2021 the following communication was sent by the Eastern Synod ELCIC’s Bishop Michael Pryse to all of our congregations. Your Council is heeding their warning.

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Dear colleagues,

In some ways, these early days of July have left me feeling the same as I felt last summer. Once again, many of our congregations are in the process of discerning how, when and if they should plan to resume in-person worship; and what exactly such a resumption ought to look like. Undoubtedly, we engage these questions with a healthy dose of both uncertainty and optimism as we watch case numbers across the territory of our Eastern Synod continue to drop.

First and foremost, allow me to express my deepest gratitude to our Rostered Leaders, Lay Leaders, Musicians, Volunteers and congregations for your continued and faithful commitment to the health, safety, and wellbeing of your neighbours. This has been, is, and will continue to be an act of love and service. I am so proud of our church, and the resilience, creativity and faithfulness with which each of you have navigated this long period of pandemic.

A few weeks ago I, along with members of the Task Force for the Resumption of In-Person Worship joined the Ontario House of Bishops in a conversation with Rev. Michael Garner. Michael is an epidemiological consultant who has been advising the leadership of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario throughout the period of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michael took time to review current modelling numbers, offered interpretation, and answered our many questions. His recommendation to us, and one that I would echo to each of you, is the need to exercise patience and caution as we make plans to resume in-person worship; even if permitted by our provincial governments to move things along more quickly. This is especially important as we see the Delta variant become dominant in many parts of our synod.

I know that we are tired of masks and distancing. I ache with you to sing our favourite hymns in a building filled to overflowing! That time is coming – but it’s not here yet.

To that end, I must ask for your continued adherence to the safety protocols which have helped us navigate these turbulent waters thus far. Please continue to follow increased sanitization protocols, maintain physical distance, wear a three-layer mask when indoors or when physical distancing is not possible outdoors, refrain from singing, and continue to limit social events such as coffee hours or potlucks where food is shared. When possible, outdoor visits on patios or front lawns are preferable. As always, please also refer to the most current public health directives which can be viewed at the links below……

….. So let us journey forward with patience and caution.

Let us continue the best practices we have followed throughout the pandemic; encourage, those who are able, to get vaccinated as early as possible; and make good use of outdoor opportunities to responsibly gather in God’s good creation.

You are in our prayers. Please let us know if we can be of assistance in the days to come.

Peace to you as you discern, pray, plan and prepare.
Bishop Michael J. Pryse