May 30 2021 Update
Hello everyone. This is an update I have wanted to write for a long time!
First of all, let me start with the first of two big announcements: we are returning to In-Person Church Services! Our first in-person gathering will be Sunday June 6th, at 10:30. The latest update from the Provincial Government has granted churches a variance in order to return to indoor worship services, and we are excited to see Covid numbers back under control enough to safely gather together in person.
If you are planning to attend church in-person, please click the “Reserve a Seat” button at the top of the page and fill out the form there to let us know you are coming! This will help us arrange seating and keep all our contact information organized in one place, as well as prevent us from being over capacity. Space is limited, so make sure you let us know as soon as you can! Please note that we continue to honour Covid restrictions and guidelines put in place for the safety of our congregation, including mandatory masks indoors, until those restrictions are lifted. We will have a Covid Safety Plan in place, and measures are being taken to ensure things are sanitized and safe and ready for your return.
We also want you to know that we will continue our online Church Livestream! If you are not able to make it in person, you will still be able to watch the service live, here through our website, or on Facebook. The services will also continue to be posted right here on our website, on the “Previous Services” page, in case you miss it and want to catch up later (or if that sermon is so good you just have to watch it again!)
Lastly, our second big announcement is regarding Kids Rock Camp. With so little time left before July arrives, we have made the decision to change Kids Camp and Teen Camp; instead, for 2021, for the first time ever we will be hosting Kids Rock Family Camp! Visit our Kids Rock Camp website, www.kidsrockcamp.com for more information, or watch the video update on here on YouTube
Of course, if you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact Pastor Nick. I know this season has been a challenge on many of us; but know that you are not alone in this! God is with you, we are praying for you, and we are excited to see you again in person very soon.
God bless,
Pastor Nick
(250)609-2959
(250)459-2959
bptclinton@gmail.com
February 5, 2021 Update
Hello Church Family. I wanted to take a brief moment to update you on the latest about in-person church services.
By now, you have likely seen the news that Dr. Bonnie Henry has once again extended her Province-wide order limiting gatherings outside of immediate household members, including church services. The current order remains in place beyond February 5th, so we continue to hold services online.
We continue to respect Dr. Henry’s decision, as well as our BC-Yukon District Leadership’s guidance, and we have extended our break from in-person services as long this order is in effect. We will keep the congregation informed of a return to in-person services as soon as restrictions are lifted and it is safe to return.
Today’s announcement did come with some good news: a light at the end of the tunnel. Dr. Bonnie Henry, in her February 5th press release, specifically mentioned that churches can look forward to the end of February to expect to resume in-person church services. We are all looking forward to a return to in-person services, as long as the numbers continue to improve.
Take this opportunity, as difficult as these months may have been, to reach out to one another, to check on your neighbour, and to pick up the phone and keep in touch. God has brought us through this far - He will see us through to the very end, and beyond! He is our eternal hope, no matter what is going on around us - so let’s lean on Him through this time.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact Pastor Nick. We trust that this difficult journey will soon be behind us, and God will bring us through stronger than ever.
God bless,
Pastor Nick
(250)609-2959
(250)459-2959
bptclinton@gmail.com
January 8, 2021 Update
Hello again everyone. Just another quick followup to our November 21st update.
As you remember, on November 19th, BC’s public health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry introduced a Province-wide order intended to limit social interactions and slow the spread of Covid-19 once again. This order has been extended until February 5, 2021.
As previously stated, we still respect Dr. Henry’s decision, as well as our BC-Yukon District Leadership’s guidance on the issue. As such, we have extended our break from in-person services until at least February 5th, 2021 while this order is in effect. We will keep the congregation informed of a return to in-person services as soon as it is prudent and responsible to do so. We ask for your understanding, cooperation and unity with us as we endeavour to do what is right, while also being obedient to God and what He wants us to do.
I’d like to take this time to remind everyone of a couple of things to encourage you, briefly. For one, we are not being told to stop worshipping God; nobody can stop us from doing that! Although we’re being asked to stop gathering in the building, John 4:21-24 reminds us that worship is not about a specific location, but rather about worshipping the Father in the Spirit and in truth. We are meant to do that everywhere, with every part of our lives, not just in the building Sunday mornings!
Secondly, I want to remind everyone that this is only temporary. We trust that we are starting to see the beginning of the end of this pandemic, and soon things will begin to return to normal. So do not be discouraged! Instead, find your Joy in the Lord, the Joy that nobody and nothing else can steal. And please be sure to encourage one another with phone calls and other ways to stay in touch!
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact Pastor Nick. We trust that this difficult journey will soon be behind us, and God will bring us through stronger than ever.
God bless,
Pastor Nick
(250)609-2959
(250)459-2959
bptclinton@gmail.com
November 21, 2020 Update
Hello Church family. Thanks for reading our latest update.
On November 19th, BC’s public health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry introduced a new Province-wide order intended to limit social interactions and slow the spread of Covid-19 once again. Unfortunately, religious gatherings have been included in the new restrictions, and we have been asked to pause our in-person services once again.
We respect Dr. Henry’s decision, as well as our BC-Yukon District Leadership’s guidance on the issue. Therefore, with the intention of protecting our congregation and our community from further spread, we will be taking a break from in-person services until at least December 7th while this order is in effect. We will keep the congregation informed of a return to in-person services as soon as it is prudent and responsible to do so. We ask for your understanding, cooperation and unity with us as we endeavour to do what is right, while also being obedient to God and what He wants us to do.
I want to encourage you to continue to join us for Online Church, whether on Facebook or on our Online Church Platform. This Sunday, November 22nd, we will continue with a Livestream from the Church. The more of us who log in to join us, share an encouraging word or Scripture, and reach out to one another, the better this season will be for all of us.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact Pastor Nick. We trust that this difficult journey will soon be behind us, and God will bring us through stronger than ever.
God bless,
Pastor Nick
(250)609-2959
(250)459-2959
bptclinton@gmail.com
November 10, 2020 Update
Hello again everyone, Pastor Nick here. It has been a while since our last update, so I just wanted to quickly bring you up to date on what’s going on lately at BPT.
As you have likely discovered, for the past 6 weeks or so we have been able to Livestream our church services online every Sunday morning. You can access the Livestream on our Facebook page or access it from our website by clicking the “Join Online Church” button at the top right of the page. We would like to encourage everyone to please share the Online Church services with your friends and family. It’s never been easier to click the “Share” button on Facebook and send it to someone who needs an encouraging word.
In-Person services have also been going well this Fall season. Since installing our clear barriers on stage, we have been able to safely reintroduce live worship on Sunday mornings. Our chair setup has enabled us to maintain social distancing guidelines, and there is still room for more people to attend. If you would like to join us in person Sunday mornings, we have not been full to capacity yet, so you are welcome to come.
This season has also been an opportunity to try some new things. One of the highlights of the service has been the addition of Sunday School in the service for the kids. This includes a Bible Story with Sign Language, which has been fun for us adults to take part in as well! We’ve been enjoying making small changes to the order of service like this, to keep things fresh and exciting on Sunday mornings.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact Pastor Nick. We hope to see you soon!
God bless,
Pastor Nick
(250)609-2959
(250)459-2959
bptclinton@gmail.com
(Please note: You can find our previous COVID-19 Updates below this one)
September 19, 2020 Update
Greetings Church Family! I am just writing a quick update to let you know the latest news at Bethel Pentecostal Tabernacle. We want to make sure our communication is clear about what’s happening at BPT this Fall.
First of all, we are meeting back in the Church every Sunday Morning at 10:30am. You are welcome to join us, and we ask that you please let us know if you’re planning to come by visiting our RSVP page. This helps us ensure we have enough seating for everyone.
Secondly, we are currently making preparations for a couple of exciting developments. One is that we will soon have all the equipment necessary to Live-Stream our Sunday Morning services every Sunday! Soon you will be able to feel like you’re right there with us in the building on Sunday mornings. We will announce availability soon, and it will still be accessed at https://bptclinton.online.church or on Facebook, the same as Online Church currently. The second project of installing “sneeze guards” on the stage will enable us to safely have live worship on Sunday mornings once again, and should be complete soon. So we hope you will bear with us as we iron out some wrinkles over the coming weeks and continue our move “into the future” as a congregation together. Thank you for your patience!
Our current protocols for gathering can be found below, in my last post from July 23. As always, if you have any questions you can always get in touch with Pastor Nick.
Pastor Nick
(250)609-2959
(250)459-2959
bptclinton@gmail.com
(Please note: You can find our previous COVID-19 Updates below this one)
July 23, 2020 Update
Hello everyone, thanks for checking back in with us. I apologize for not writing an update sooner, as it has been an incredibly challenging and busy season to be a Pastor. It has been 4 months since our decision to break from in-person gatherings to slow the spread of COVID-19. Since then, we have moved most of our ministry online: from Zoom Bible Studies and Board Meetings to Online Church on Sunday mornings. In all of these things, our church has adjusted to change admirably, processing these changes with a great attitude and much patience and understanding as we ironed out as many wrinkles as we could. So first of all, I want to offer you a sincere thank you for sticking with us through this challenging season! Preparing video worship services has proved to be a daunting and time-consuming task, although one Tara and I have mostly enjoyed
Now, for the news many of you may have been hoping for: at our Board Meeting this week, we started the process of returning to in-person church services. It is incredibly important that you understand that we are taking things slow, because we believe part of loving one another involves taking steps and precautions to make sure everyone is safe. We aren’t taking this lightly, and we’ve met to discuss, at length, all the steps it will take to make a return to church safe for everyone. We have worked out a sanitization schedule, signage and policies, seating arrangements, and what our practices will be do ensure we maintain physical distancing and continue preventing the spread of the virus.
Along those lines, some of these plans include: continuing the 6-foot physical distancing; arranging seating to maintain that 6 feet; rigorous cleaning and sanitization for every service; masks provided for those who want to wear them; shorter services, for the time being; a strict policy to please stay home if you feel unwell at all, if you have any symptoms of COVID-19 or any other illness; changing the way we do communion and offering to limit contact; stopping all self-service coffee and refreshments after the service; and even as far as to stop singing in the service for the time being. These are just a few of the precautions we will be taking, but shouldn’t be seen as an exhaustive list. While some may be concerned that we are taking things too far or too seriously, we would prefer to take it more seriously and be mildly inconvenienced than to not have taken enough precautions and see someone get sick. So we ask once again for your patience for grace as we navigate a situation that none of us has been through before.
Church services will look a little bit different when you back, but the nature of the church has not changed: we are still the Body of Christ, and God still wants to work in our church and our community, no matter what our gatherings look like.
To give you an idea of the timetable for returning to services, this is what we have planned so far:
On August 2nd, 9th, and 16th, at 10:30am at the church, we will have an in-person gathering at the church specifically for those who have not been attending Online Church. At our regular church time, the in-person gathering will watch the Online Church service at the same time as “Online Church.” This idea serves two purposes: For one, it gives us an opportunity to slowly ease back into things and see how it works with a smaller group. Two, it allows those without the internet to finally take part in church services. For those who have been attending Online Church, please plan to continue to watch at home these weeks.
On August 23rd we will have our first In-Person Church Service LIVE on Sunday morning, 10:30. Online Church will still happen, for those wanting to continue on at home for now, but it may look a little different. We are still working out details at the moment, but if you have been joining us online, you will still be able to join us online. In-person seating will be limited and an RSVP system will likely need to be implemented to make sure we can maintain physical distancing because our building is so small.
On August 30th, weather-permitting, we will have an outdoor service that more closely resembles getting back to a “normal” service for Church. We may also look at doing an outdoor service for September 6th. More details, including location, will be available soon, as we are still in the planning stage. Online Church will still be available, but we are encouraging everyone to try to attend in-person, as it’s been such a long time!
As September draws closer, we will make further announcements on what church will continue to look like moving forward.
If you are still reading this long update, thank you for hanging in there to get all the details! I wanted to provide as much information as possible so that you know that we aren’t taking this lightly or just burying our heads in the sand. We are taking COVID-19 seriously, but more than that, we are devoted to the church and we love all of you who are part of it. So once again, thank you so much for your patience and understanding. We can’t wait to see you all face-to-face very soon!
God bless,
Pastor Nick
(250)609-2959
(250)459-2959
bptclinton@gmail.com
(Please note: You can find our previous COVID-19 Updates below this one)
April 18, 2020 Update
Hello again Church family. I just wanted to provide you with a quick update on how we are moving forward with our Church services for the near future. As you know, Social Distancing measures and restrictions are still in place in B.C. and across Canada. When we initially announced the closure of our in-person church services, we were given a timetable of “at least 4 weeks.” Not knowing how long this would last, we decided to only announce the closure for those next 4 Sundays, up to and including April 12th, 2020. Of course, now that we are beyond that timeline, we know that these same measures will remain in place as long as necessary, in order to “flatten the curve” of this pandemic.
Therefore we have made the decision to postpone in-person services indefinitely, until further notice. We are not completely closing the church, but we do intend to comply with our authorities and honour them in the leadership position God has allowed them in, as well as follow the recommendations of our PAOC BC-Yukon District Office. While we certainly miss meeting in person, we feel that this is the wisest option for now. These decisions have no basis in fear, but rather out of respect and with the desire to protect the elderly, vulnerable, and at-risk members of our church.
Here’s the good news: Online Church is reaching more people than we would normally have in church Sunday mornings. It is exciting to see that God’s Word is still going forward and is not hindered by the fact we aren’t meeting face-to-face. You can still join us online every Sunday morning at 10:30am, watch the service on Facebook, share it with your friends, or find it right here on our Sermons page after the service ends. This is an unprecedented time in Church History, and as a church we have the privilege of making an impact on the world around us.
This time is not wasted - it is ordained by God! In fact, we’re seeing evidence that God is using this time to draw people to Him: Bible sales have skyrocketed, social media sharing of Scripture has tripled, and record numbers of people attended Church Online this Easter. Jesus told us: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” We are seeing Him continue to build His church, and nothing will stand in His way. Amen!
Please check back in here on our website where you can find the latest news, find ways you can stay connected, information on how to give, or if you have any prayer requests. We are in this together, we’re praying for you, and we know that in all things, God will continue to work for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
God bless,
Pastor Nick
Note: You can find our original COVID-19 statement below this one.
BPT Statement Regarding COVID-19
March 20th, 2020.
Hello Church family. I wanted to take a moment to inform you of how Bethel Pentecostal Tabernacle is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic that we’ve all been going through. I realize you have probably already read dozens of these types of statments already. That just goes to show how widespread and serious the situation is. This means that we, as Christians, have a responsibility and a privilege to shine the Light of Jesus through the storm of fear and uncertainty that people are facing right now.
First of all, I want you to know that we have been praying for you. If you have attended our church even once in the last few years, we want you to know we have been praying for you, and will continue to pray for you by name. We pray for God’s protection and safety, we pray your faith in God will grow, and we pray for His love and peace to fill your heart and mind during this difficult time.
Second of all, as of today (March 20th, 2020) we have made the difficult decision to remain closed and cancel our in-person Sunday morning services for the next 4 weeks. This cancellation also extends to our regular midweek Bible studies, Women of Faith group, and Kids Night. We want to remind you that the church does not stop being the church simply because we aren’t together on Sunday morning. God has placed you where you are right now to make an impact for Jesus. At this time it is more important than ever to love your neighbour as you love yourself, just as Jesus commanded us. So reach out to your neighbours, check in on them and make sure they’re alright, pray for them, and let them know you care about them. We will get through this together.
Third of all, you may wonder what church looks like going forward. While we are aware not everyone has access to the internet, those that do will have the opportunity to take part in church online every Sunday morning. We will be trying different things, including recorded music and a message, live-stream church services, access to the sermon on Facebook and our website, and group chats for those who are interested. We are exploring the option of doing online Bible Studies, looking at developing devotionals that we can do individually in our own homes, and even considering telephone conference calls to maintain fellowship. The Board of Deacons will be keeping in touch by phone once a week, and Pastor Nick will also be in touch with everyone in the congregation as often as possible as well. We are still a family, and family does not stop being family just because there is a crisis. Remember, you are not alone, we are in this together, and God will bring us through.
There are 3 main ways you can find out the latest information on what’s next for BPT. You can visit www.bptclinton.com and we will keep it updated as often as possible. You can search for our Facebook page, Bethel Pentecostal Tabernacle (@bptclinton). And of course you can call, text or e-mail Pastor Nick, at either theastles@hotmail.com, or (250) 609-2959.
If you need anything, if you are struggling, don’t what to do, or you just need to talk, I cannot stress this enough: please get in touch with us! Call, text, e-mail, telegraph, Morse code, walkie-talkie, or just a good old-fashioned yell out the window – whatever it takes! Just do not go through this alone; we’re all in it together.
God bless,
Pastor Nick