Because of the increased lockdown in Toronto and Peel Region, the Session has decided to move back to online-only worship services. The worship services Sunday, November 29 were our last in-person services for a while.

While God’s word tells us not to forsake assembling together, His word also calls us to give honour to those who govern. We want to support the provincial government’s efforts to resist the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, we urge members of the MCPC community in Peel and Toronto to follow the government’s call not to leave the lockdown regions and travel to less restricted areas.

Because those travel restrictions affect so many, the Session has decided to return temporarily to exclusive live-streaming for our Sunday worship services beginning December 6. Information about accessing those worship streams continues to be available on the http://mcpc.ca/live page.

Even though we’re not meeting in person, we do want to find ways to stay in touch with each other. How can we help each other through these days? On the http://mcpc.ca/live/ page is a form you can use to let us know if you need prayer or other assistance in these challenging times.

Download this letter in PDF format

God calls His covenant nation “the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise. (Isaiah 43:21)

From the day COVID Emergency regulations forced us to suspend in-person services, we looked forward to the time when we could physically gather again for praise. As the Province and local Health Units have allowed more places to reopen, we have been making more specific plans to resume in-person worship in our three services. August 23 the Cantonese service will begin meeting in person; the English service will begin meeting August 30.

Effective August 23, the new service times will be:
Mandarin: 9:00 am to 9:45 am
English: 10:15 am to 11:00 am
Cantonese: 11:30 am to 12:15 pm

We are planning for 45-minute services to allow 30 minutes for one service to leave and the other service to arrive, and the cleaning in between. All three services will continue to be livestreamed and posted on YouTube.

We are committed to making the necessary preparations to protect your health and safety following best practices specified by the City of Toronto and York Region Health Units. These include:

• Increased cleaning of surfaces and access to hand sanitizer.
• Marking pews for proper distancing in seating and aisles for one-way traffic as people move around.
• No sharing of hymnals or pew Bibles, passing offering plates, or handing out bulletins.
• There will be collection boxes at the exits where you can leave your offerings as you leave the Sanctuary.
• Maintaining social distancing as much as possible and discouraging physical contact.

Important things to remember when you return:

• As directed in York Region, you will be required to wear a face covering upon entering the building. If you forget to bring a mask, we will have extras available for a freewill donation.
• The only entrance will be the door facing Denison Street. The doors by the parking lots are set apart as exit doors. Phase II remains closed, and those doors are locked.
• Everyone will need to submit a health screening form to enter the building:
  • An online version will be available at mcpc.ca/covid19 for you to print, complete, and bring with you.
  • If you need one, we’ll have paper copies available at the church entrance for you to complete.
  • Your temperature will be taken to be sure you don’t have a fever.
  • Hallways and aisles are marked for one-way traffic.

Please also note:

• Washroom access will be limited to one person in the washroom at a time.
• Because of the bandwidth needed for livestreaming, there will be no public WiFi access at MCPC on Sundays.
• In-person fellowships and other meetings will not resume yet.
• Be sure you take all your personal belongings home with you at the end of the worship service.

We hope you’ll be able to join us when we reopen. We also understand that we all have unique circumstances and health conditions, so do not feel obligated to return to in-person service if you are not ready.

“Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.” Psalm 34:3

A COVID screening questionnaire must be completed by anyone who attends in-person worship service at MCPC. This must be done weekly.

Please print, complete one form per person, and bring it with you to church. Extra forms will be available at the church entrance if you are unable to print or forget to bring one with you.

God calls His covenant nation “the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.” (Isaiah 43:21) Ever since COVID Emergency regulations forced us to suspend in-person services, we eagerly looked forward to being able to physically gather again to proclaim God’s praise. The new COVID regulations have given churches permission for in-person worship.

We’re seeking your input as we plan to start those services again.

Please fill out our Church Re-opening Survey so we can hear your feelings and concerns as we plan for re-opening our church building and resuming in-person worship.

The surveys are now closed.

Thank you for your help with this important project.

In order to better coordinate the virtual worship services in three languages, the Mandarin worship will occur at 10:30am. English will still be at 9:30am, Cantonese at 11:30am.

We’ll see you at mcpc.ca/live on Sunday morning!