Council

See you in church! In-Person Worship starts this Sunday

Photo by Murray Fenner

Our monthly In the Wild gathering will be at 9am on February 20th on the church lawn. Wear a mask and come dressed and ready to Celebrate Snow!

On February 20th at 10:30am our theme is “Love my enemy?” Our music will include the anthem “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” and our piano prelude will be Oscar Peterson’s Hymn to Freedom.

We look forward to worshiping with you, in-person, on Zoom, or on YouTube starting this Sunday.

Important COVID Team NEWS:

Many restrictions are being lifted in Ontario. The Covid-19 team has met this week to review these as they apply to our Church.The decision was made to commence In-person worship on Sunday, February 20th.Please note the following:

  • Proof of vaccination is required
  • Masking is required (Please note that the use of N95 masks is encouraged)
  • Socially distanced at all times

More details about In-Person Worship:

It’s been a couple of months since we had an in-person worship option, so here is a more detailed reminder of our guidelines.

Please follow these guidelines for in-person worship in order to keep the experience as COVID safe as possible:

· If you are attending in-person worship and 12-years-old or older, you must show proof of vaccination at the door every time or have a medical exemption (you must speak to Emily Gordon in advance about a medical exemption).

· If you have any COVID symptoms, have had contact with a known COVID case, or are waiting for the results of a COVID test you must stay and worship at home. If you are not well for any reason, please stay and join us virtually.

· Wear a mask at all times while in the church.

· Please arrive 10-15 minutes before the service to show proof of vaccination, complete Sign-in/Wellness form and find your seat.

· Use provided hand sanitizer.

· If needed, pick up a headset at the Sign-in table.

· Maintain social distancing from those not in your bubble, whenever possible. You may use coats placed on the pews to help maintain distancing. Please do not sit in the front rows, since there must be at least 2 metres from our choir leads.

· To provide one-way directional movement everyone: Use Main Millwood Rd ramp/entrance to enter, then exit pew by pew via the McRae Dr doors (unless an elevator is required located at the Millwood Rd Entrance).

· During in-person worship, please remain seated during hymns and do not sing, but if you would like please hum.

· If you wish to speak to other attendees, you are invited to exit the building first, and do so on the lawn.

· Children and youth are welcome to attend and stay with their family during the service. Children may borrow books or colouring materials to use during the service from the children’s area, and one family may choose to use the children’s area rather than being seated in the pews. We encourage full vaccination for all children ages 5-11.

Looking forward to seeing you!

Important COVID Update – December 18, 2021

This morning the Covid Response Team held an emergency meeting to consider the latest Ontario regulations and Covid numbers and trends. The team has made several difficult decisions recognizing that the Omicron variant has significantly increased risk, even for those who have had two doses. Until further notice, we will no longer have in-person worship in the church building. Our worship will continue to be available on both Zoom and YouTube.

We will have our 3pm In the Wild gathering on Sunday, December 19, but will not hold our 5pm Choirs and Carols Christmas Eve service – both because the new restriction on outdoor gatherings is 25 and because we do not believe we can safely distance everyone who might want to attend.


This is hard. I (Emily) wanted nothing more than to sing with you outside and to gather as the hybrid community we have been forming this fall. We are asked to adjust once again to this new variant and how it is upending things in another wave just when we thought we were getting things figured out. We know to keep one another safe we need to pull back once more, but it doesn’t make it easy to do so.

Once again we are in this Advent space, this space of waiting and expectation. But although it might not fit all of our longings, Christmas is still coming. And along with it is the promise of God’s presence. In the birth of Jesus, God becomes a part of our vulnerable human lives, suffers and struggles with us, and connects us with love.

Rev. Emily Gordon

If you have any questions, please contact Emily at emily@leasideuc.com or 647-303-6709, and she can pass them along to the full team.

Sunday Worship in September

During September weekly worship will continue every Sunday on both Zoom and YouTube at 10:30am as we learn about our new A/V system and what is possible. We look forward to developing our livestream capability and moving towards adding an in-person option as soon as we have the technology in place and it is safe to do so. We will begin Creation Time and explore the theme “Experiencing Creation with all of our senses.” On September 12th we’ll also share a Blessing of the Backpacks as a part of our worship.

The Stories and Makers Nest will restart this Sunday, September 5th at 9:55 am and continue throughout the fall. This program is on Zoom and YouTube (on YouTube on an ongoing basis). The theme this month is “Fruits of the Spirit.”
We continue to collaborate with Rosedale United Church on creating this program and look forward to more weeks with Rebecca, Roberta, and some furry friends.

On September 19th we will begin a monthly outdoor time of worship, with some prayer and readings and more time spent engaging with nature as a way to connect with the sacred. Our theme on September 19th will be Balance as we approach the Autumnal Equinox, and we will take the opportunity to pay attention to the landscape, and native plants on the church property. This outdoor time will include options for all ages, and we welcome the youngest and the oldest to take part. Those who are spiritual but not religious might especially appreciate this approach to connecting with the sacred.

We look forward to the many different ways we will connect with one another in September and throughout the fall.