Thought For The Week 20 February 2022

Welcome to our services today. We gather together in ‘strange’ times where we are on high alert for an outbreak of the Omicron variant of Covid 19 in our community. At the time of writing, we have 7 cases in South Canterbury and 1160 new cases nationwide (Wed 16th Feb). This number will inevitably rise and I know many in our parish are a little nervous about this and are contemplating how much mingling with others they are prepared to do. Our greatest concern at present is the health and safety of our members. This is why the parish council made the call to require all uses of our facilities to be vaccinated and have the My Vaccine pass to verify this. We also adhere to the guidelines requiring staff and volunteers to wear medical grade face masks and we encourage participants in services to do the same. These things have helped keep our infection rates low, compared to many other countries.
Our parish council executive has taken the further step to discontinue serving morning tea at both services from next Sunday (today is the last day until further notice). While the guidelines allow for this many have commented that any protection we have while masked is undone during the cuppa time when we stand or sit in close proximity. Understandably, some will be disappointed to not enjoy fellowship in this way but I reiterate that we are primarily concerned with health and safety.
I’d like to encourage you to join our live stream service at 10:30 am on You Tube (search Timaru Presbyterian Parish) if you are worried about gathering for in person worship. And remember, nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:38-39).
Kia ora koe (good health to you)
Brent Richardson
Categories: Thought for the week