The Election of Elders During Covid-19 Restrictions

By Blog, Congregational Development Archive,

The election of elders is an important aspect of our congregational life, and is one we don’t want to put on hold until we can return fully to our church buildings. As the pandemic has continued from weeks to months a number of people have asked me how they might undertake the election of elders in these times. It is helpful to know that the process of holding an election is relatively easy to adapt, however the actual act of ordination becomes a little more complicated.

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Setting Up a Google or Bitmoji Classroom

By Blog, Christian Education Archive

Tonight I will be presenting a workshop on how to use Google Classroom as a hybrid model for Sunday school delivery. As this is the website I use, I am uploading the following so I can demonstrate Google Classroom for the participants and also deliver a handout easily for them. Thus, this really isn’t an article, but instead a means of my making the material available for them. Thank you for your forgiveness if you receive an email from this article. I shall actually write an article on this topic next week, so come back then for the extra content. Blessings, Tori



Setting-Up-a-Google-Classroom handout Download

Please Pass the Faith: How Grandparents Can Best Pass Their Faith on to Their Grandchildren

By Blog, Christian Education Archive,

“My granddaughter loves going to church. We’re all there together; three generations sitting in the pew – It make me the happiest grandparent I can be. My kids are doing a great job, but I often wonder if it’s all up to them. What should I be doing to pass on my faith to my grandchildren?”

“My children no longer go to church, and don’t want to have anything to do it. I bring my grandchildren to Sunday school as often as I can and I tell them the stories of Jesus. I am so sad my grown children have walked away from the church and I don’t want to fail with my grandchildren.”

In my job serving as Regional Minister for Faith Formation I get asked a lot of questions by grandparents; grandparents who come alongside their adult children sharing their faith with their grandchildren, grandparents who rarely get to see their grandchildren, and grandparents who grieve their adult children’s leaving church and deeply desire that their grandchildren know Jesus. Regardless of circumstances, these grandparents all want to know how they can best pass their faith on to their grandchildren. It’s a wonderful question, and one I have a few answers for, for them and for you.

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New Limits on Gatherings for Ontario (Updated Sept. 19)

By Blog, Congregational Development Archive

Greetings friends,

You may have already heard that the province of Ontario has rolled back gathering limits to ten people for indoor social gatherings and 25 people for outdoor social gatherings. The entire article regarding these changes can be found here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/premier-ontario-cases-covid-sept19-1.5731049

We are writing to clarify that this does not apply to congregational worship. We have received an announcement from the Anglican Diocese of Toronto which clarifies this. It says: “It is important to note that the government announcement regarding unmonitored personal social gatherings does not apply to churches. Worship services will continue to be at 30% capacity.”  

We realize this is all a moving target these days, so please know that we will endeavour to pass on what we learn ASAP.

Blessings, JP and Tori

The Trouble With Technology

By Blog, Congregational Development Archive, Uncategorized, ,

Last week I received an article from a colleague entitled The Coming Tidal Wave of Pastoral Departures by Laura Stephens-Reed. The article can be found here and I commend it to your reading: https://tinyurl.com/y66f5gea

There is much to learn in the article, but one paragraph in particular stood out:

“Prior to the pandemic, a significant number of my clergy coachees and colleagues were working under unrealistic expectations, whether those came from their congregations or from their own internal “shoulds.” And then, mid-Lent, they had to change the ways they did nearly everything – and fast. They became not just preachers but tech experts with all that entails: recording, editing, sound mixing, lighting, inviting people to and teaching them how to participate in and managing online meetings, exploring the most accessible social media platforms, and monitoring cyber security.”

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Three Hybrid Models for Faith Formation This Fall

By Blog, Christian Education Archive, ,

Last week Robynne Howard, Director of the Cairn Family of Camps, and I hosted a Zoom training session to introduce three hybrid faith formation models your church may wish to consider for the fall as we continue to stay out of our physical church classrooms. If you missed joining us last week, or want to review what was said, I want to share with you the video from that training session along with some handouts and resources that might help your church as you determine how you will be connecting with children and young people this year.

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The WMS Synodical Zooms Their Way Through Their Annual Meeting!

By Blog, WMS Archive,

“Greetings from the WMS Synodical of Central, Northeastern Ontario and Bermuda.”

These last six months have been a challenge to all of our churches as we’ve worked hard figuring out how to do ministry while staying safe, flattening the curve, and following social distancing protocols. As the proverb goes, ‘necessity is the mother of invention,’ and so our churches have been making use of some wonderful inventions during these days. For many of our church leaders ZOOM has presented the perfect platform for holding our numerous meetings, but comes with the work of learning how to use the technology itself. This can be a new challenge for anyone, but most especially if computers and computer programs are new for them.

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September’s Coming!

By Blog, Christian Education Archive, , ,

Have you figured out how you will be doing Sunday school and/or youth ministry with the children and youth of your church yet? 

If you are looking for a hybrid model for faith formation with the younger members of your church family that will work outside of an in-person classroom setting, join us on Tuesday, September 1 at 10:30 ET for a one hour Zoom gathering and hear about some great possibilities for at-home and online education.

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New Updates on Curriculum Resources for Hybrid Sunday Schools this Fall

By Blog, Christian Education Archive, ,

A few weeks ago I wrote an article that outlined how Sunday school curriculum publishers were striving to support our churches through the production of resources to help us shift to hybrid models for teaching Sunday school this fall. Each have been busy writing new curricula and/or providing supplements to their existing offerings to assist us in making the transition to teaching outside of a classroom setting smoother and better for our teachers, participants and parents.

You can find that original article here: https://www.cnob.org/?p=1719#more-1719.

Please revisit it for an overview of the materials each will be providing this fall, especially if the curriculum your church uses is not mentioned in the following article. Your church’s curriculum may only be highlighted in the previous article because nothing has changed since July 22, 2020.

This article has been written to provide new or additional information that has been released since I last wrote on the topic.

So, let’s see what’s new.

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More Than Worship: Re-Starting Other On-Site Church Activities

By Blog, Congregational Development Archive, ,

Almost all of the Province of Ontario has now moved to stage three of reopening. Unfortunately, while there is a great deal of information available for businesses, there is much less information available for worshipping communities. This article is an attempt to synthesize what we do know from the documents that are available to us.  

In stage three, indoor gatherings are now permitted. Places of worship are not explicitly named, but, convention centres, libraries and other public places are, making me believe that churches can carefully reopen to other non-worship activities under these current rules. This could include congregational activities, committee meetings, bible studies and other gatherings, as well as church rentals.

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