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Mask Update:

As I’m sure you’re aware, this week in Ontario, mask mandates have been lifted for most indoor venues, including churches. We want to navigate this change together with grace and understanding, knowing that our community is comprised of many people with different views, circumstances, and risk factors.

With that in mind, I want to share some important implications of this change in protocols:

  1. Masks will be optional for those who are attending our services. We know that there will be people who choose to continue to wear masks and those who won’t. We want to make sure that we are extending grace and understanding to those who make the choice that we don’t.

  2. As protocols change and we continue to welcome people to join us in-person, we are making alternate seating arrangements available. On Sunday, we will be opening up an overflow room downstairs at the end of the hall. If you would prefer to reduce the number of people that you are around, you can make use of this option. The service will be live-streamed on the screen and allow you to participate in-person, but with fewer people in the room. Of course, for those who are not able to attend in-person, we will continue to live-stream our services on YouTube each Sunday at 10am (and those services will be available ‘on demand’ any time afterward).

  3. Finally, we want to make sure that our children continue to enjoy a safe and engaging environment. We know that this demographic has not yet had the same access to vaccinations and our kids come from different schools and settings. So, our Westside Kids volunteers will all continue to wear masks and appropriate PPE at this time.

We are excited about what God is doing at Westside and we are so glad that you are a part of our community! If you have any questions, or if we can serve you in any way, please don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know!

In Christ,

Pastor Dave Stimers

 

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How We Respond to COVID-19 (January 6, 2022)

I'm sure by now, you're aware of new Covid restrictions that have been put in place this week. Perhaps you're wondering how this affects us as a church and what we can and cannot do?

  1. The good news is that the provincial government and public health have deemed worship services safe and able to continue at 50% capacity. We will continue to be open for in-person worship on Sundays, following all health and safety protocols.
     
  2. However, as schools have gone to virtual learning, we will not be offering in-person kids' ministry. We hope this is a short-term measure, and that we will be able to resume Westside Kids safely, in the near future. For at least the next couple of weeks, our kids' classes will be available online through Zoom calls between 11am and noon on Sundays. Parents - watch your emails for the details and Zoom links!
     
  3. Finally, we will be offering a live-stream of our services on Sundays at 10am on our YouTube channel (subscribe so you don't miss it). We look forward to connecting in real-time with those who will be joining us virtually. 

I want to encourage you to stay connected during this time of isolation. If you are able, we look forward to seeing you on Sunday in-person, and if not, please say 'hi' in the live chat so we can make sure that we're not going it alone! 

Lastly, this Sunday we're starting a new series called, Following Christ Through Crisis. I think it's going to be timely and helpful as we try to stay encouraged together! Don't miss it, and remember - it is so easy to spread hope online by liking and sharing our services on your social media platforms. 

Stay encouraged and stay connected! We'll get through this together!

Pastor Dave Stimers


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How We Respond to COVID-19 (June 11, 2021)

As our province begins to gradually reopen, we are excited to be planning on how we can regather safely as a church! Our reopening plan will follow public health guidelines in order to primarily keep people safe as we seek to gradually work towards in-person gatherings together. We think it will unfold like this:

Stage 1: Outdoor In-person Services
On June 27th at 4:00pm, we’re planning an outdoor Worship and Baptism Service! We’ll be meeting in the church parking lot and staying physically distanced, but we can’t wait to be together again! We’ll have another similar outdoor service planned for the end of July (date TBD). During the early summer months, we will also encourage our Life Groups to meet for socials and/or watch parties to engage in our Sunday morning online services together. As we follow the public health guidelines, this will be the first step, as we facilitate outdoor gathering opportunities. 

Stage 2: Midweek In-person Services
We anticipate that later this summer in August (dates TBD) we will be able to welcome a smaller group of people to attend in-person services. At that time we’ll offer a midweek, in-person worship service. This service will be recorded for our Sunday morning YouTube broadcast, and will therefore offer everyone a chance to participate online as well. 

Stage 3: Sunday In-person Services
Our hope is that in September (dates TBD) we are able to host Sunday morning in-person gatherings in our building again! At this time we’ll resume children’s ministry as well. 

Throughout this process (and into the future) we will continue to ensure that our teaching, announcements, and other service features are available online through our YouTube channel.

Be encouraged,

Pastor Dave Stimers


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How We Respond to COVID-19 (August 24, 2020)

I want to fill you in on where we’re at as we continue to plan for the fall and navigate the challenges of meeting during this time. I know for many of us we would love to get back to meeting together like we used to, and yet we know there are a lot of hurdles we need to clear before that can happen. Meeting in large groups, indoors and doing things like singing are among the more risky behaviours as we continue to deal with COVID-19. The current restrictions also make it very difficult to meet like we were used to. However, we are working on solutions to make sure that we can meet in the safest and most effective way that we can.

So, as we head towards the fall, our vision is this: To make A BIG IMPACT in SMALL GROUPS.

We’re spending significant time planning to improve our Life Group experience, and we’ll be offering a number of options to help everyone get into a group. There will be virtual options, and in-person gatherings, utilizing the large spaces in the church building to accommodate small groups. Some groups will gather as watch parties for the Sunday services.

We want to utilize these groups to provide community and to serve the community. You’re probably already aware that we partner with Food4Kids to help feed children throughout our city. We’re looking to add 2 more community partners to take opportunities to serve Hamilton, Ancaster and Dundas. Our groups will be a place for us to work together to make an impact in the community around us.

We also recently polled our parents. We know that many of you are concerned about how school is going to go this September and aren’t ready to send your kids to a program. We’re planning to be ready to launch kids’ programming in safe group sizes and with the best health practices in October. Assuming that things go well, we’ll be ready.

Of course, we have learned to hold our plans lightly. Our commitment is to continue to improve the online content and options that we can provide, and allow for in-person gatherings only when it is safe to do so.

I want to ask you to do 4 things for me, as we foster a strong community over the coming weeks and months: 

  1. Join us online on Sundays. Watch together. Comment in the chat. Invite friends by sharing and liking our YouTube videos.
  2. Join a Life Group in September. If not for yourself, for someone else. An introvert? We won’t make you carry the conversation. Crazy work schedule? It’s ok if you miss meetings. We just want to make sure you’re being cared for and help others.
  3. Join the Westside Kids Zoom calls. If you have kids, keep them connected, even if it’s chaos.
  4. Join us in Prayer. Pray for wisdom and our leadership as we make decisions moving forward.

Let’s join together to make a BIG IMPACT in SMALL GROUPS. 

God bless!


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How We Respond to COVID-19 (June 12, 2020)

Earlier this week (June 8) you may have heard that churches in Ontario have been allowed to open their buildings, up to 30% capacity. We are excited that we are seeing some positive news and progress in our province!

What does this mean for Westside as we head into the summer months?

Over the past 3 months, we have seen a great response to our online Sunday services. We’ve actually increased the number of people who are engaging with us, and we’ve been able to reach people not only here in Hamilton, but in many other cities. It’s been a learning experience and we’ve seen that the Church really is adaptive and able to handle many challenges in creative ways.

When it comes to reopening our building for Sunday services, our top priorities are the health and safety of our people, as well as creating high-quality environments for our people and those we want to invite to join us. With that in mind, we believe that right now we can provide a better Sunday morning environment online than we can in-person at our building.

The current regulations limit us to 30% of capacity. Once we factor in the number of volunteers that it takes to run a safe and engaging service on Sunday, this would only leave a very small number of spots for attenders. Additionally, current social distancing guidelines and requirements will limit our programming significantly. Providing a safe children’s ministry environment remains a large challenge, and we have been asked at this time not to attempt it. We also know that many people continue to have reservations about attending large group events at this time.

In my view, and that of our leadership team, we do not believe that this allows us to offer a great Sunday morning experience at this time.

So what can we expect this summer?

  1. As the restrictions start to loosen we will be able to expand what we can do to create great online content. Even as we are allowed to include up to 10 people gathering, our production and music teams will be afforded more freedom to help make our services even better. We hope that you’ll continue to join us online and invite your unchurched friends and family to watch along! We’ve been seeing this happen and are excited that we’ve been reaching people that we were never able to before!

  2. Life Groups will be a crucial community touchpoint! Our groups are meeting online right now, but we expect that we will be able to begin in-person meetings soon. Being part of one of these groups will be crucial to stay connected through the summer! If you are currently in a group, your group leader will be providing information in the next few weeks about how and where this might happen (perhaps outdoors and/or in places where physical distancing is more convenient). If you are not in a group yet, I want to urge you to be part of one! This will be a great way to simply build community and encourage one another. If you would like to join a group, please let us know by signing up here!

  3. Finally, we’ll be experimenting with other opportunities to get together in manageable groups as well as finding ways to serve our neighbours as things continue to gradually reopen.

I know that not being able to meet in person for a Sunday service is disappointing to many, but we are encouraged that we’re moving in the right direction and that horizon is in sight!

We know that lives are continuing to be changed. I am so thankful for those of you who have stayed engaged in our mission. Let us continue to think and pray about how we can encourage one another and reach the people around us! We are committed to working hard to provide the best possible environments to do this, and we appreciate your prayers for wisdom and guidance as we move forward.

God bless!

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How We Respond to COVID-19 (March 28, 2020)

To offer some clarity as we all make adjustments to our lives, we wanted to share our plans for what life at Westside will look like in the coming weeks. We believe these are the most loving and proactive steps we can take to care for our church family, our neighbours, and our community.

  • We will not be having public gatherings of any kind for the foreseeable future in light of the recommendations made by the Public Health Agency of Canada. We will continue to monitor the situation and advise if this date will need to be extended. This includes: Sunday gatherings, kids and youth programs, and Life Groups.

  • We will continue with online church and share messages every Sunday at 10am. We’re so encouraged by the positive response so far, and we look forward to continued growth and engagement.

  • Good Friday and Easter Sunday services will also transition to an online experience. We’ll send you more info as we get closer to Easter, but for now we can confirm that we will not be gathering in-person this Easter. On the flip side, inviting your friends to join us this Easter will now be a click away.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers as we navigate the changing circumstances in this current reality. Please continue to pray for our entire church family as we lean into our vision and continue to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus.

God bless!

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How We Respond to COVID-19 (March 18, 2020)

  • We will not be having public gatherings of any kind through to April 5th in light of the recommendations made by the Public Health Agency of Canada. We will continue to monitor the situation and advise if this date will need to be extended. This includes: Sunday gatherings, kids and youth programs, and Life Groups.

  • We will continue to share online messages every Sunday at 10am. Starting Sunday, March 22 we will post our messages as YouTube Premieres. This new feature will let us watch and experience Sunday’s message together! We will be able to interact with each other in the comments and live chat!

  • We will continue to work with our Life Group leaders to find the best solutions to help our Life Groups connect online and support one another, care for our families, and love our neighbours. We may not be able to meet physically for the next few weeks, but this doesn’t mean we have to be isolated. If you don’t have a Life Group, this is the perfect time to get connected! Send us a message on Facebook, Instagram, or by email (info@westsidehamilton.com) and we’ll get you set up.

Lastly, it’s always our aim to be transparent with you when we talk about money and finances. Based on our history, we know that cancelling Sunday services has a significant impact on the donations we receive and need to fuel our ministry. Thank you in advance for your continued generosity. To set up recurring giving, or give today, head to our giving page on our website.

Thank you all for your understanding as we navigate through this current reality. We want you to know that we are here for you. If you have any prayer requests or special needs in this season, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We want to help and bring hope during this time.

God bless!

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How We Respond to COVID-19 (March 13, 2020)

Hi Westside Family,

I’m sure by now you’ve seen so much news regarding the Coronavirus (COVID-19). This is a situation that none of us have been in before and is constantly changing. As followers of Jesus, we do not live in a spirit of fear, but we do want to exercise wisdom. There is no need to panic, but we do want to have a proactive plan to ensure that we do what we can to keep people safe and healthy.

At this point in Hamilton, we have seen some organizations close, while others are staying open. Both are options and there are many factors that go into making these kinds of decisions for different kinds of environments.

In light of the nature of our gatherings, which have large groups of people meeting in close proximity to one another, we have decided to suspend our Sunday morning services, kids programs, and youth programs at this time. We’ve made this decision because we want to ensure that we are not putting anyone at risk unnecessarily. It is so important for us to take the necessary precautions so that we can promote the health of our people and our community.

While we are unable to meet we will be providing video messages, updates, and devotionals. We want to invite you to join us online to stay connected during this time.

On Sundays at 10:00am we will post our weekly message and announcements to our YouTube channel (subscribe to receive notifications and updates).

For families, we will provide kids video lessons and resources to parents (subscribe to our Parent Newsletter).

Throughout the week we will keep you informed about what’s going on through email, our website, and our social media channels. This is a great time to follow us on Facebook and Instagram if you don’t already.

You can continue to support and fuel our ministry by giving online. Thank you for your generosity and continued support.

We want to keep connected even when we can’t meet as a large group! As things change, we’ll make sure you stay up to date on our plans and when we can safely meet together again. If you’re part of a Life Group, your leader will contact you soon to discuss how you can stay connected during this time as well.

We know this situation isn’t going to last forever. At a time where many will be highlighting our challenges or feeling anxious, we have a great opportunity to model and share the peace of Christ that reminds us that God is in control and will show up in our times of need.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We will be monitoring the situation daily and keep you updated regularly.

In Christ,

Dave Stimers
Lead Pastor