# THE EMMAUS EUREKA

## Week of Sunday June 7th, 2020…..edition #13

UPCOMING BIBLE STUDY Susan, our new Lay Pastoral Associate will be leading a 6 week bible study called "Listening to Your Life." It will be via Zoom at 7pm each Monday for one hour beginning June 15. Alison Weir who manages the Emmaus Zoom account will send out the Zoom invitation to those people who RSVP to her email (alisonweir19@gmail.com) so that she has their email address. For those without online access, a summary of the major "take-aways" will be provided in the following week's newsletter. The first passage we will discuss is Acts 2:37-47.

If you would like to participate in this bible study e-mail Alison Weir at alisonweir19@gmail.com and let her know. She will respond with an e-mail invitation to take part in the Zoom meeting and the instructions on how to do this will be given. It is not difficult to do this so please don’t’ let a fear of Zoom keep you away.

FROM THE HOUSE OF BISHOPS A letter from the provincial House of Bishops was sent this week to advise all Anglicans in Ontario of the following: “Regardless of where the Government of Ontario is with its reopening plan, our churches will not be reopening for in-person worship until at least September. This decision was made in consultation with public health experts as well as our diocesan executive officers and chancellors, with the well-being and safety of all our parishioners and the communities we serve uppermost in our hearts and minds.”

The letter rightly emphasises the safety aspects of remaining closed at this time but also points out that the last three months have been difficult as we scrambled to adapt our ministries to respond to this emergency situation. At Emmaus this has resulted in on-line Zoom services, the distribution of the Eureka Newsletter via internet and using hard copies for those without internet access, working with St. Vincent Place to help meet the needs of people using their services, ongoing maintenance and monitoring the church building to make sure everything is OK, landscaping and yardwork at Emmaus while maintaining social distancing, staying in touch with each other via telephone and meeting some of the needs of shut ins as well as carrying out numerous other outreaches to parishioners and others in our community. We’ve also adapted to new technologies and that has been great and has given us new tools to use at Emmaus now and to continue using when things change and we can meet together once again but it has been a lot of work for a lot of people and the Bishops, recognizing this are asking all parishes to make this summer a time of rest and refreshment so that when we meet together once again people will not be exhausted but will have the energy and enthusiasm to move forward.

The bishops also note that when the churches reopen a gradual process will be required to assist in reopening safely. To help with this they will be releasing a one-page framework document which will outline the cautious three-stage approach that will be collectively undertaken by all parishes as pandemic conditions in our communities warrant the safe reopening of our church buildings. When this framework document is released we will print it in the Eureka. As we hear a lot: “We’re all in this together.”

The letter from the Bishops concludes: “For now, please know that you are held in our prayers unceasingly, and we are deeply grateful for the generosity, innovation and faithfulness that has been so richly demonstrated across our province. As we weather our current circumstances together, let us seek to be the face of Christ in the world in a renewed and faithful way, buoyed by the Spirit of the Living God which falls afresh on us each day. May God’s deepest peace be with you.”

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