Parishes to begin to reopen July 12

As our province begins to loosen restrictions on public gatherings, including gatherings of faith communities, we are offering the following protocols to parishes of our diocese of islands and inlets. They are designed to help us cover the bases and to protect us from unwitting errors or omissions that could cost us dearly. At the same time, our buildings and circumstances vary considerably, and so the attempt here is to outline basic non-negotiables, and to encourage parishes to determine for themselves how best to implement them in their own context.

In order to give time for adequate preparation, the earliest date parishes may re-open for in-person worship in the Diocese of British Columbia is Sunday, July 12, 2020.

We recognize that other faith communities and dioceses may be moving more quickly than this. Our objective is to act with an abundance of caution.

In this regard, for some parishes this timeline would be inadvisable or impossible: please note that no parish is required to reopen for public worship on July 12.

Read the full reopening plan here.