Thought For The Week 5 December 2021
Covid 19 Protection Framework
As you will be aware, the government has introduced a new response to the way we tackle the Covid 19 pandemic, moving away from lock-down levels to a traffic light system. This came into force on Friday 3 Dec. This presented our parish council with an important and difficult decision; whether to operate ‘open’ services that welcome those who are not vaccinated against Covid 19 or ‘pass’ services which require the official vaccine pass as evidence of vaccination. These are the only two options under the new regulations.
Each option has the potential to exclude folk and cause divisions among God’s people which is something we would wish to avoid. The key guiding principle for the decision taken was ensuring as much as practicable the health and safety of those who attend worship and who volunteer in various ways.
Under the orange light setting we are entering, the following conditions apply to our services:
| With My Vaccine Pass | Without My Vaccine Pass |
| Gatherings at a place of worship (eg church services, weddings, funerals) no limits.
Events no limits. Serving food and drink allowed.
|
Gatherings at a place of worship (eg church services, weddings, funerals) are limited to 50 people spaced 1m apart.
Events cannot operate No food or drink.
|
After much discussion and study of the relevant information which came from the PCANZ Assembly office, the parish council have opted to operate under vaccine passes from Sunday 19th. This will allow us some time to train our door people who will be required to sight vaccine passes, as well as restarting our hospitality rosters. Until then we will operate open services. The Christmas eve Helligabend service will also be open (no pass required).
Naturally these changes are an inconvenience and further disruption to our lives. However we believe that operating under vaccine passes provides the safest way to gather together and restores the freedoms we have been so missing.
If you would like to dive deeper into the regulations and advice for churches you can do so here: https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/for-parishes/coronavirus-information
Update on Rory: parish council has granted special leave for Rory to deal with an ongoing family crisis and he will return to work on 10 Jan. He and Andrea are grateful for the support of the parish and request privacy at this time.
Blessings,
Brent Richardson
Categories: Thought for the week