We are well into summer – and have already had a good taste of the hot and humid weather that can bring. And with continued patience and common sense (and lots of second doses!!) we should soon be able to safely meet again with family and friends. The light at the end of the tunnel has certainly become very clear and getting larger each day. We look forward to slowly opening up the church for Sunday services and other events that have been cancelled for so long. There is much to be happy and thankful for.

As mentioned elsewhere in this newsletter, we will be open for in-person Sunday services for the four Sundays in July. We still have Covid rules to follow, and that means you still have to pre-book from our website or by telephone, but with maximum limits of 50 participants, there should be room for most of you who wish to join us. It really will be nice to meet in the church once more for a Sunday service. There will be no in-person services in August as Pastor Simon and family are on holidays, but we look forward to starting up once more on Sunday September 5. If plans fall into place, we will have a visit from DSUK (Bishop Marianne Gaarden and General Secretary Selma Ravn) that weekend – so feel free to come and say hi.

Despite the Covid restrictions, we are doing our best to move forward with the sanctuary upgrade. As these restrictions relax, hopefully the contractors can move into high gear to get the project going. We have given them full access to the sanctuary from now until the end of October in hopes of completing the project on time. That means any activities (services or other gatherings) normally held in the sanctuary, will have to be held outside or in the Royal Hall instead. This will make our summer and early fall a bit challenging, but worthwhile for the end result. We ask that you be patient and forgiving for this inconvenience. 

Fundraising has been a difficult challenge during the Covid shutdown, but many of you have sent donations and other payments in the mail or via e-transfers. As well, we recently had our on-line import sale and sandwich ordering bazaar which was a wonderful success. We are grateful for this support, and our hopes are that we can soon be back to our regular fund raising activities, including rental income. 

In the meantime, we also want to open up an opportunity to support the sanctuary upgrade now that it is a reality. Please see more here. 

We are hoping that many of you will help and give as generously as you can towards either the general upgrade fund, or the specific church art fund. We will post our growth monthly to let you know how we are doing. We were successful with similar campaigns for the Kitchen Renovation and the Royal Hall Upgrade, and feel we can do the same with this new challenge. Remember – this is your church, and we need you to help keep it going. Read more about how you can support here.

Despite Covid, our church is still here thanks to everyone’s support and participation. As we open up, we can enjoy the benefits of these efforts. Together we can make a difference. Have a happy and safe summer. 

Sune Overgaard