Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today our country moved out of lockdown level 3 and into level 2. This has been promoted as a safer normal, and for many, the change will mean a move back toward some normalcy. Praise God! For our youth and children, we pray for you as you prepare to head back to the classrooms, lecture halls, and pre-schools. We pray for our parents as you help your children (and yourselves) make this transition and work through any anxieties that may arise. For those returning to jobs, and businesses our prayers are with you in these uncertain times. For those who have been faithfully staying home during lockdown we pray you enjoy the opportunity to move out of your bubbles, see loved ones, and enjoy some of the things you have missed. Whatever it looks like for you we pray God’s blessing and peace be with you. 

Can I say how proud I am to serve as Vicar of a parish that has loved each other so well in this difficult season. You have been gracious, kind, persevering, faithful, and most of all prayerful. For those of you who learned new online skills and connected through zoom, and online church services - give yourselves a pat on the back. What a joy it has been every time a new face popped up on screen to join for our daily evening prayer! For those who have lit up the phone lines - thank you. And for our parents who amidst the chaos of homeschooling while trying to work from home and care for others managed only to utter the daily breath prayer “God help me”, well done - God’s mercies are new each day! Ka pai e te whanau! What a wonderful family God is creating here on the Peninsula.

What is the Parish Plan for Level 2?

Level 2 may be a “safer normal” for most aspects of our lives, but as you are likely aware, as a worshipping community we still have a number of Government restrictions placed on us. These current restrictions limit us to gathering in groups of no more than 10 people. This number will be re-evaluated by the Government in two weeks. At that time the number might increase from 10 to any number up to 100 people - or not at all. We simply don’t know. What we do know is that at level 2 there will still be physical distancing restrictions, meaning that even if gatherings up to 100 are allowed, our actual venue capacities are far less than this. In short, there’s still uncertainty going forward as to how this plays out. 

On Tuesday night our Vestry met via Zoom and unanimously passed a plan that will give our parish clarity and direction through until June 21. I will set this out for us below, and then follow with some Q&A. 

Firstly, an important encouragement

Sunday corporate worship will eventually return. As a Vestry, we want to affirm our desire and intention that at the end of this season of lockdown, and Lord-willing soon, we will be meeting corporately for worship on Sunday mornings. All of us share your love of meeting as a whole, intergenerational church family. We share your love of worshipping, praying, singing, celebrating, and enjoying Julian and his team’s tea and coffee together afterwards! We are not discerning any sense whatsoever that God is asking us to abandon this. So hear us clearly when we say that when we can, we will return to Sunday corporate worship. The day will come, but it isn’t possible just yet. 

The next two Sundays - May 17 & 24

For the next two weeks while we are restricted to gatherings of no more than 10, we encourage all parishioners who feel comfortable to do so, to open your homes to meet with a few other people on Sunday and to worship using the home church liturgy we delivered at the beginning of lockdown. For those who are in existing home groups no larger than 10, this may mean you choose to meet together in person again next week. 

In the coming days we will distribute a new supply of consecrated wafers so that all parishioners can celebrate the Eucharist again. If you didn’t receive communion wafers or a liturgy booklet prior to lockdown, please let me know and I’ll ensure we get these to you this time around.

If you aren’t able to meet in person with others, the Wellington Diocese will continue to provide a Sunday service via their website, Freeview channel 200, and Facebook. For those who have been connecting for worship over the phone and don’t feel comfortable meeting in person yet, keep using the phone as you have been.

What will happen after two weeks?

If after two weeks our Government lifts the number of people who can gather to more than ten, our parish will move to a small group model of worship until June 21. These groups will meet at various times and locations (including parish buildings) throughout the week, and ensure that every parishioner who would like to, can meet in person to worship, pray, participate in communion, and enjoy fellowship in a safe way that complies with the guidelines.

We anticipate that small groups will take multiple forms. For example, one group might use the green prayer book liturgy, and meet at the same time as in the past. Another group may use a liturgy from the red prayer book. Many, I assume, will use the home church liturgy booklet from the diocese, and some will be family friendly, using resources that specifically engage children. The size of the groups will be determined by the Government restrictions, and group make-up, but we envisage between 10-20. A leader will be in touch with you in the coming weeks to help connect you with a group.

The benefit of meeting in small groups for a few weeks is that they facilitate meaningful conversation, personal prayer and a chance to include social interaction afterwards. We’re excited about the chance for us to grow deeper with one another, to share our faith journeys, and to eventually come back together with an even stronger sense of being family. Vestry believes this is what we are being invited into by God in this season, and we’re confident you will appreciate the priority that is being placed on personal connection and fellowship after so many weeks apart. 

Making this decision now gives us some certainty for planning purposes and decision making. What happens beyond June 21 will be decided by Vestry a week prior, based on the latest information and guidelines at the time. 

Some Q&A’s 

Q: If the Government raises the allowable number for church gatherings up to 100 in two weeks, why don’t we just go back to our usual services immediately?

A: If and when during level 2 the Government does allow Christians to meet in groups of up to 100, this doesn’t actually mean that we can fit 100 people in our worship spaces. There are physical distancing guidelines we will have to adhere to. By the time you space everyone out according to these, and give consideration to entry, exit, communion, etc, you are down to about 30 people (maybe up to 45 if you assume families sitting together). Then, if we want to sing, the safe distancing goes up from 1m to 2m and the possible number of people who can meet becomes even less. In this scenario we would also not be able to have our tea and coffee afterwards, but would have to disperse immediately after service. Going back to our old normal is sadly not possible under level 2 restrictions.

Q: Why not use the two church buildings, St Aidan’s and St George's.

A: Great question. Yes, we are blessed to have two church buildings and even two ordained priests. It is conceivable that after two weeks, if guidelines allowed, we could have come up with a way of dividing parishioners into two groups and having two services, one at each location. This was discussed at Vestry. It’s important to remember that these services would still have to meet the physical distancing guidelines above. They would probably not enable singing, nor a time of morning tea and fellowship, and this is to say nothing of the possible complexities around Sunday school. St George’s is also currently set up with a couch-based seating arrangement, not rows of chairs, or pews. Perhaps the bigger issue however, is that we could spend two weeks planning for all this only to find out a couple of days beforehand, that the Government increases the allowable number to 20 or some other smaller number and we can’t go ahead with the plan. For all of these reasons, we do not think this is the best option for our parish.

The small group plan we have agreed upon prioritises the relational aspect of our gathering, and the chance for meaningful connection and conversation. We believe that this is very important pastorally. As mentioned already, the plan also gives us some necessary certainty for planning purposes.

What about the rest of parish life?

The church is not just turning up for a Sunday service, as you know. Peninsula Parish is an important part of our neighourhood and we have many things going on throughout the week. These all require careful planning as we enter Level 2. Here is a quick summary of some main points:

Safety and Compliance

The Parish is blessed to have Matthew Hague on our Vestry. Matthew has recently begun a new job as lawyer for the Presbyterian Church in New Zealand, and has been responsible for advising all their churches on safety and compliance issues. He has used this knowledge to create an excellent operational plan for Peninsula Parish, including all of our ministries and external users. On Tuesday Vestry approved these guidelines. You can see the full version here.

Every ministry leader, and external hirer of parish venues, will be required to accept our policy, and to fill in a contact tracing form with details of every person who enters a parish building. 

Shop 89

Meri Grace is currently working with Janet and Chris on an operating plan to ensure the safe and compliant reopening of Shop 89 for all volunteers and customers. We are excited for the chance to welcome our neighbours again and to provide affordable, good quality, winter clothing and other goods to all. No date is set yet, but once systems are all go, we’ll let you know. 

Vege Co-op

The Vege Co-op has been running a distribution centre from Shop 89 for the last 3 weeks (including today). They have been using a contactless order and pick-up system and will continue to do so until Shop 89 is open.

Other Ministries

In the coming days I will be communicating with all ministry leaders to talk through the options available to us under Level 2. Where possible we will seek to get things up and running, but they will need to be compliant. Please be praying for our leaders and ask for God to show us creative ways to serve and bless in new and helpful ways, even if we can’t immediately go back to the old. 

Venue hire and external groups

As per above, venue users who accept our guidelines and have an operating plan in compliance with these will be able to resume activities. Please pray for these groups, and especially the small businesses that are based out of our buildings. Our intention is to be a blessing and supportive of them.

Financial giving and freewill offerings

Thank you to those who have been able to continue giving via online payment during the lockdown. If you are able, you can continue to give this way under level 2. For those who are part of the envelope giving scheme, there will be the possibility of delivering these if you would like to during level 2. We are still working out details of this and will let you know soon. 

There is much more that could be communicated, and I will keep you updated in the coming week, but for now, the message I want you to hear from us is thank you, we love you, and God’s peace be with you as we enter Level 2. God is with us!

I do hope you can meet for communion in person with someone else this Sunday, but if not, stay connected via phone, or by joining the Diocese service online. 

God bless,

Rev Chris, on behalf of Vestry