Sovereign Grace Church Toronto

Due to Ontario’s restrictions on the size of worship services and the need to practice physical distancing, we ask that you reserve the number of seats you will need for our in person worship services by filling out this online form: Sunday Service Registration

If you are unable to join us in person, you are welcome to tune into our YouTube Livestream

1. Please stay home and participate in our service through the livestream if you are showing any of the following symptoms, or if you have been in close contact with someone who has displayed these symptoms:
   • Fever
   • Cough
   • Difficulty breathing
   • Sore throat
   • Runny nose
   • Loss of taste or smell
   • Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
   • Difficulty swallowing
2. Please also stay home if you have travelled outside of Canada in the last 14 days, or you’ve been identified as a “close contact” of someone who currently has COVID-19 in the last 14 days, or a health care professional has advised that you should be isolating.
3. Please plan to arrive ten minutes earlier than you would typically arrive. This will give you time to go through our sign-in process and stagger entry into the building.
4. We encourage you to join us for pre-service prayer in the gym at 9:45 AM.
5. Please remember to use the bathroom before attending the service so that we can minimize the number of people using our bathroom facilities. All of our bathroom facilities will be open and available.
6. When you arrive, please lineup outside the front doors of the building in the designated waiting spots in order to maintain social distancing. All other entrances into the building will be locked and only available for emergency use.
7. Once you walk through the opened front doors, you will sign-in at the registration table. You will also be offered a face-mask and a plastic face shield (which you are welcome to keep).
8. Once you sign-in, you are welcome to seat yourself in the sanctuary. Every other pew will be roped off to facilitate physically-distancing. We ask that you choose seats that will maximize physical distancing with those around you.
9. At any point in the service, parents are welcome to take their children to the gymnasium where the service visual and audio will be broadcasted. Supervision of the children will be the responsibility of the parents.
10. The nursing room will be open for up to three nursing mothers to use at a time. The service audio will also be broadcasted into that room.
11. As of July 13, 2020, the Simcoe-Muskoka Health Unit (which has jurisdiction over our church) has ordered that masks be worn in public, indoor spaces. We encourage all of our congregants to comply with this order.
12. We estimate that our service will be shorter than usual and last around 80 minutes.
13. When our service ends, we ask that you maintain physical distancing and keep your masks on as you exit the building.

Dear Sovereign Grace Family and Friends,

It was a joy for many of us to gather together in person last Sunday. I was especially moved by the experience of fellowship as I heard your voices raised in worship to our Triune God. What a simple thing! And yet, it has a powerful effect because when we’re together, the Spirit moves to join our hearts together in praise.

Psalm 122:1 says,

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD!”

For the Psalmist, this meant going to God’s Temple in Jerusalem. But for us, it means going to God’s people, because that’s where the Lord dwells in the New Testament era (Matt. 18:20; 1 Peter 2:6; 1 Cor. 3:16-17). We say that a church isn’t a building; it’s a people. And while that’s true, buildings matter because that’s where God’s people gather. That’s why it is so special to gather for worship in person.

And yet, the joy we experienced was a muted joy because we know that many of you had good reasons for not attending in person (including my wife and four sons). You may have been sick, or you may be at greater risk than others, or your family situation didn’t make it feasible. Whatever your reason was, we want you to know that you were missed, and that we continue to long for the joy of your presence, whenever that may be.

Registration for this Sunday

We will be following the same registration process for this coming Sunday, June 21st @ 10:30 AM. If you plan to attend in person, please send an email to info@sovgraceto.org with the names of everyone who will be part of your group and indicate whether you will be sitting together.

Note: the Ontario guidelines permit individuals from different households to sit together without observing social distancing provided that they are part of the group of up to ten individuals whom you have designated as your social circle.

Please review our COVID-19 guidelines (attached) in advance of the service.

Livestream Link

For those who are unable to attend in person, you can watch the livestream by following this link (note that the link will change each week):

https://youtu.be/9hmb87nGP10

Our audio-visual guys did an excellent job for our first livestream (special thanks to Steven Kamenar and John Kladitis!) and are working on further improving the quality of the livestream, including:
Synchronizing the audio and the visual
Overlaying lyrics and quotations onto the video itself rather than zooming out to capture the projection screen inside the sanctuary

Mid-Week Zoom Links

We will continue hosting all of our mid-week church meetings on Zoom until further notice. Here are the links:

Tuesday, June 16 – Ladies’ Fellowship @ 1:30 PM
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81279768559?pwd=YUh3Qi9aaFZSVGFvakxrZXhFNTBTUT09

Meeting ID: 812 7976 8559
Password: 824578

Titus 2 sets out a vision in the church of older women mentoring and discipling the younger women. Whether you are a younger woman in need of mentoring, or an older woman who is capable of mentoring, this is the perfect time for you to connect with other ladies and grow in your faith.

Wednesday, June 17 – Prayer Meeting @ 7:30 PM
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83816910582?pwd=TUpSaGNUV0xBWEY1WFJya2dYdDFmQT09

Meeting ID: 838 1691 0582
Password: 467133

Our church prayer meetings are faith-building, life-giving staples in my spiritual life, and I know it is for many of you as well. Please join us for a time of Bible teaching, singing, and prayer.

Sunday, June 21 – Cyril’s Markham/Bradford TAG @ 2:30 PM
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85144702556?pwd=ZW9SL3A3Y3JFUU50TUVnaHBrRzEvdz09

Meeting ID: 851 4470 2556
Password: 084755

If you’re looking for a group of people who will encourage you and strengthen your relationship with God, you need to connect with this TAG. It’s full of people who are lots of fun, but who will take your walk with God seriously.