FGCC Covid-19 Guideline Update

Things on the COVID front continue to change all the time. The reality is that we are in a season of this change once again in our Province and we find ourselves wondering what the best thing to do for our Congregations and for our larger community is at this time. 

The most important commandment according to Jesus is to love God and then love your neighbour as yourself (Mark 12:31). This posture of loving our neighbour has been a primary guide for our decision making as a staff of Forest Grove Community Church. We always want to be asking, what does loving our neighbour look like in this moment? This continues to be a priority, even though the way we love our neighbour now has changed significantly in the last 18 months when we first found ourselves discerning what our Pandemic response was going to be.  
 

We want to prioritize respect and honour for all people in our community. We recognize that we hold a wide variety of thoughts and opinions about Covid-19 in our church as a whole. As Philippians 2:3 says, “Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.” Respect and honour are important parts of what it means to live for Jesus. As Christians we need to learn to love, honour and respect those who we disagree with. Loving others well is a powerful witness of Christ’s transforming power in a polarized world. 
 
So what does that mean for us now? 

The Forest Grove Lead Team has met over the last two weeks and spent time listening to a wide variety of people in our Congregations, reviewing medical and government recommendations, talking with other churches, and praying for guidance and wisdom. 

Here are some of the decisions that we have made, as we enter into this Fall ministry season: 

• We recommend that people wear masks at Attridge, Broadway and North Site, as a measure to help do our part in stopping as much of the spread as possible, and protecting our unvaccinated population.   
• We encourage social distancing and will continue to provide options for people to distance where we can. 
• We will continue with the strict cleaning measures we have in place. 
• We affirm and acknowledge vaccinations as an important part of caring for those in our unvaccinated population and for that reason, want to state that all FGCC Staff have been vaccinated. For volunteers that are not, or unable to be, vaccinated, we ask that you have a conversation with your ministry leader to discuss options. 
• The Lead Team will re-evaluate all of these measures on a weekly basis and update our Congregations as necessary 

If you have any questions regarding any of these things, please contact the main office and we will direct you to one of our Pastors for further conversation.  

We continue to pray for our Congregations and trust the Holy Spirit for guidance as we rely on Him to give each of us the attitude of Christ Jesus.