Plan Your Visit – COVID-Style
Christ Church St. James welcomes all to our community of faith.
We want you to feel welcome, safe, and comfortable during your visit with us, so we’ve prepared some quick notes on what you can expect to see and do at CCSJ now that we’ve reopened for worship.
When should I arrive?
Sunday morning service gets started at 10:00 am. We are back to full capacity so there are no pre-registrations required.
If you’re not feeling well, please join us online on Zoom – details are in the weekly Plugged In: newsletter.
What about parking?
We do have a parking lot on the north side of the church; however, it’s fairly small and we overflow into the little lot of the Humber Bay Library branch building beside us. We can park on the sides of Park Lawn Rd. itself, and across the street on both the north and south sides of Ringley Ave. in the morning.
What door do I use to get in?
The main door is on Park Lawn Rd. Head for the ramp or stairs leading up to the big glass entrance. Someone will be there to welcome you.
Our elevator services the parking lot level, the main floor of the church and the church hall in the basement. Use the white door of the elevator entrance off the parking lot to access the church in this way.
What about washrooms?
The main floor of the church has an accessible washroom right off the cloakroom in the front foyer. Other accessible washrooms are at the bottom of the stairs, outside the doors to the Church Hall.
What about money?
We were a bit weird for a church even before COVID – we didn’t pass the plate around before and we still don’t now. You’re our guest – guests don’t have to pay for being a guest.
We expect that our members should be responsible for helping to make CCSJ a great place to belong to – that’s our job.
When you feel like joining us in membership, we will be happy to accept your regular offering – our Lord knows we’re doing lots of things in this place! (Just check out the Events calendar!) In the meantime, if you feel like contributing right now, there are a number of ways to do this – see the Support Us page for details.
What should I wear?
We’re super casual – some people dress up; some people dress down – we figure God knows what we look like already, so there’s no need to impress Him. We’re air conditioned in summer (but not freezing – it’s still a big space) and comfortably heated in winter. So the dress code is – wear clothes!
Masks are now optional for worship.
What are my options for my kids?
Normally plenty! However in these transition times, kids are welcome to join our Children’s Ministry program downstairs. The Nursery is open with limited volunteers.
What should I expect in the service?
We are back to having Communion (the bread and wine of Jesus’s body and blood) together in the round.
You should expect songs to be sung together, prayers to be said privately and all together, to hear readings from the Bible, and to have Communion together.
We follow the Anglican Book of Alternative Prayer (mostly), enjoy good traditional and contemporary music, and are Bible-centred. The service is displayed on the screen at the front.
We take Communion in “batches” (about 30 at a time) and we stay at the Lord’s Table until everyone in the “batch” has received. Children are welcome to receive Communion too – Jesus loves us all.
