St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Welland, Ontario, Canada

Hello everyone,

You are invited to join us on Wednesday, April 14 at 7:00 p.m. for a Holy Humour Worship Service presented by the Niagara Area Ministry Leadership Team and Members of our Congregations. This special evening worship service celebrates the Joy of Easter with music, message and mirth. The idea of this celebration is that God had the last laugh over death. Jesus was buried in the tomb and it looked like death had won, but three days later Christ arose. The early theologians called it “the Easter laugh!”

To join us, simply click on the following link (to obtain the link, contact the church office before Wednesday via email or phone) between 6:50 and 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 14. (No meeting ID or password is required.) There will be a prelude from 6:55 to 7:05 p.m., however admittance will discontinue once the worship service begins. Please stay muted when logging in with either video or name only.

Attached to this email is a missal*, or worship guide, for this event. We hope you can join us on Wednesday!

*Click HERE for missal

Jennifer Allcorn
St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
57 Griffith Street
Welland, ON L3B 4G6
(905) 734-4746
stmatthewswelland.com

Our call committee of Dianne Yungblut, Bob Hansen and Melanie Funk Laskaris have been meeting almost weekly ( via Zoom ) for the past several months in preparation for this process.

The call committee from First Lutheran consists of Mike Bernatz, Claudia Brema and Merle Nielsen.

Restrictions due to Covid-19 have delayed this process. Meeting dates have been changed and rearranged several times.

A Zoom meeting has been tentatively arranged for April 15 with Pastor Reble from the synod office and the two call committees. My understanding is that there are interested candidates.

I will update members of the congregation as I am able.

We pray for God`s guidance as this process moves forward. We thank our call committee for their dedication to this process on behalf of St. Matthew`s.

Peace and stay safe

Sinikka

Update – March 24, 2021 – RE: In-person Services

For the past few weeks Pastor Jukka and church council have been contemplating when St. Matthew’s would return to in-person worship. Our hope was for April 4, Easter Sunday, if we felt it was safe to do so.

Our Bishop, Rev. Michael Pryce sent an update on March 20 reminding us that, “The fact that you “may” gather for some form of in-person worship, does not mean that you necessarily “should” or “must.” Regardless of whatever public health restrictions may have eased, or what St. Something’s down the road may be doing; you need to plan based on what seems most prudent and responsible for your particular context.” He also mentions that, “With you, I long to be able to regularly and faithfully gather for worship and fellowship with my fellow believers. I am grateful and heartened to witness the steady ramping-up of our vaccination efforts and I am hopeful that we will experience a much less restricted life in the foreseeable future. That time, however, is not yet here, and we need to maintain the vigilance and care that has been expressed throughout the course of this long and difficult year. We who love God need to continue to regulate our behaviour in ways that also give faithful expression to our love of neighbour.”

On March 22, Dr. Hirji provided an update on the current COVID situation in Niagara, and after hearing his concerns about the new variants, and considering the update from our bishop, church council has decided that now is not the right time for St. Matthew’s to reopen for in-person worship. The good news is that the vaccines are finally here and some of our members have already received their first dose! We hope that everyone will be able to get their vaccine quickly.

Pastor Jukka is recording an Easter video worship that will be available on our website.

In the meantime, have a Blessed and healthy Easter! We will let you know when we are ready to resume in-person worship.