Coronavirus

Update 17 March 2020

Hi fellow elders & all others in the JK church family.

It’s good to know that the Lord still reigns. He has not been caught by surprise by the present health crisis. He is still God.

Sadly we have been asked to cancel Sunday service gatherings at JK for the time being. This email is to update you on our plans to livestream an alternative Sunday service from JK so our church family can watch the service from their homes.

The Church of Scotland’s Covid-19 Task Group have met & a representative has emailed me to say the Scottish Government has advised that people should minimise social contact by avoiding crowded areas and large gatherings, including religious congregations, and smaller gatherings, listing areas which were of concern. 
 
They then add:
 
“Worship – Cancellation of Worship Services
In the light of the above, the Church of Scotland Task Group has agreed to ask, in the strongest terms, that all gatherings for worship should cease until further notice, with effect from Wednesday 17th March 2020, or earlier if possible. Other Scottish Churches are taking similar actions.  This obviously includes Easter services.  Some Presbyteries have already instructed this action. This will include, but not be restricted to, housegroups, meetings for youth work, and church cafes.  It will still be possible for an individual to offer a livestreaming of a sermon and prayers. Further information on livestreaming, including information on copyright, can be found in this circular on the Law Department’s webpages here.  Sunday broadcasts of a weekly service take place on Radio 4, and also on Radio Scotland; other radio stations are available.
 
Church buildings can be kept open as a place for people to come and pray. Notices should be clearly displayed asking that visitors observe robust hand hygiene, including washing their hands on entry to the church.”
 
Martin Ritchie & Peter Anderson have been working on the technology for livestreaming our services onto the internet so they can be watched live by anyone with a computer or smartphone. Thanks to a lot of of hard work we are in a position to be able to stream from this Sunday. In light of the advice from the CoS I plan to do this with Martin on Sunday. No-one else would need to be in the building. It would be an encouragement for the congregation at this difficult time for us to have an act of worship streamed from the sanctuary. It could be in the sanctuary for at least the first week & then we could consider streaming from the Cottage or another venue at a future date.
 
In terms of music we’re planning to use songs/hymns previously recorded in a JK service so there is no need for musicians or singers. In the livestream I will update the congregation on how we plan to keep connected as a church family over this period & share a message from God’s Word.
 
The congregation will be able to access  the livestream from the JK website at www.johnknox.org.uk/watch
 
We still need to work on a communication for the congregation telling them this information & will likely need a team of volunteers to deliver these letters. I’ll be in touch.
 
These are uncertain days for all of us but we know that the Lord reigns. He is our stronghold and refuge and there is no safer place to be than in His care.
 
Warmly in Christ

Gavin

Rev Gavin Niven
John Knox Parish Church, Stewarton
Church of Scotland

———

Update 14 March 2020

If you have a high temperature or a new and continuous cough, even if those symptoms are mild, you should stay at home for 7 days.

Do not go to the GP or hospital, instead you can find the latest health advice online http://nhsinform.scot/coronavirus

———

Update 11 March 2020

As you would expect – the Scottish Government & the Church of Scotland have been issuing guidance about Coronavirus.  This constitutes for us best practice – so we will have to change some of the things we do in church to conform.

At tea after church & in the cottage and at all church meetings we will be using wrapped biscuits

Handling of tea cups and the dispensers has to be kept to a minimum – so tea duty people will be asked to do the dispensing

We will use individual milks to reduce common handling of jugs

As is normal & our current practice – we should wash hands before & during being involved in food handling

Soap & water is better than hand sanitiser wash – we will however try to make hand sanitiser available out with the toilet areas 

We will ask groups who use our cups etc not to hand wash them – instead to use the dishwasher to clean them – or leave them stacked to be put through the dishwasher at next use

It should be remembered that we are trying our best to reduce passing on the virus.

Prayer

The elders of John Knox have decided to set aside two minutes every day for the next few months at around 9am to pray for the challenges facing our church family, neighbours, communities, nation and world. We’d encourage all who read this to join with us in praying especially remembering those who catch the virus or are self-isolating, those in positions of authority making decisions affecting our communities and all medical personnel on the frontline of this public health crisis. If 9am isn’t a good time for you, please pick a more suitable time to pray.

The Cottage

The Cottage drop-in centre has been closed until further notice.