As announced on Sunday, as we look ahead to potentially regathering as a church family we are aiming to uphold all of our biblical principles. As I have studied, prayed and sought counsel I’ve realised that this is a wisdom issue and that there’s no one perfect way of handling all the competing biblical values. If you take one of the values and make it supreme you run the risk of silencing other parts of Scripture. For example:

We are called to Love God and worship Him as a gathering of believers (Heb. 10:24-25) in song and in person (Col. 3:16), we’re also called to Love Neighbour which means keeping each other safe and healthy (Matt. 22:37-40), maintaining the priority of biblical fellowship (Heb 3:12), and upholding unity (Eph. 4:1-6), and we are called to Make Disciples preaching the gospel freely to all (Matt. 28:18-20) and acting in a wise way toward outsiders (Col. 4:6, 1 Pet 2:12), we’re also called to submit to our governing rulers and authorities (Rom 13:1-7, Titus 3:1-2, 1 Peter 2:13-17).

So, as to best uphold those principles here is our roadmap:

Church: begin regathering in person from 80% vaccination rate (hopefully 31st October) so that all can attend regardless of vaccination status.

Life Groups: begin regathering in person from 1 December so that all can attend regardless of vaccination status.

Retreat: postponed until late February (23rd to 25th)

Social Events: We won’t be planning any official church social events until we can all gather and attend. However, if you’re able to and would like to meet up socially, please go ahead and organise things personally. Obviously, this will cause some level of mess and awkwardness with regards to vaccination status, but I encourage you to be big hearted and gracious on both sides, communicate if you feel upset, and do all you can to maintain unity!

If you have any questions, concerns, or queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

May God keep us unified, joyful, and healthy!