On behalf of Melville Church Council I share the following:

Due to the current situation with the Covid-19 pandemic and actions taken by the Government of Ontario, Sunday worship and all church gatherings at Melville United Church are hereby cancelled until further notice. This includes Friday Coffee Hour, the Lenten Study and any other gatherings scheduled at Melville for the near future.

The office administrator, Lynda, and myself will be at the church during our regular working hours on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for the time being. I am also thinking about ways to communicate and offer some form of worship or spiritual centering electronically for those who have access to the internet. There are also services being live-streamed by the United Church of Canada which can be accessed through links which will be posted on the Melville web-site shortly.

These are challenging times for all of us and I encourage everyone to take the care they need to remain safe and healthy. As a faith community, we are called to care for one another. With that in mind I invite you to keep in touch by phone or electronically with those in our faith community who are most vulnerable at this time. A friendly phone call to check in with people to be sure they have the food and/or medicines they need is a great way to let people know they have not been forgotten and to ensure they have what they need. Those of us who are more able and at less risk can perhaps deliver any needed items.

There is much anxiety and fear in times like these and the importance of remaining spiritually grounded is paramount. Over the past few days one of my favourite quotes from the great mystic Julian of Norwich has been brought to my attention a number of times. In one of her visions during a time of plague she related that Jesus appeared and said to her “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” I take comfort from those words and also from another quote I was reminded of recently “This too will pass.”

I encourage you to remember that we are never alone – God is with us – and we will get through this together. I encourage all to take to heart Jesus’ words (which he said many times) – “Do not be afraid.”
Stay safe and stay healthy!
Blessings,
Rev. Marion
p.s. If you know anyone who is not on the Melville grapevine or who does not have access to electronic messages please call them and pass along this message.