e-Letter

November 1, 2020

Dear West View Family

WORSHIP
Worship attendance at our four services is settling into a pattern. Our online worship service remains the best attended, with about 300 views within the first week of a service going live. About 100 people participate in the online service when it premieres live at 8h30 each Sunday. Our onsite 7h30, 10h00 and 18h00 services have averaged 30, 65 and 18 respectively over the past 3 weeks. We have decided to focus our energies on the online and the morning onsite services, and this Sunday 1^st November will be the final 18h00 service for 2020. For those who are feeling uncertain about attending services with large numbers of people, I recommend that you attend the 7h30 service, as you will be able to honour generous physical distancing at this smaller service. Thank you to all the volunteers who step up to the plate each week, both behind the scenes and on Sunday itself, to make both online and onsite worship possible. We couldn’t do it without you!

CONDOLENCES
We extend our condolences to the Zondagh family on the passing of Dickie, to the family of Alice Zimmerman on her passing, and to Oniccah Dingoko and the children on the passing of Odirile (Odi). Our hope in the resurrection to eternal life sustains us.

REV DR STANLEY MOGOBA ANNUAL LECTURE AT WEST VIEW
Rev Ivan Abrahams, General Secretary of the World Methodist Council, will be delivering the Inaugural Stanley Mogoby Annual Lecture at West View this afternoon, Saturday 31^st October @ 14h00. Physical attendance is by invitation only, but you can listen to the lecture live on the Methodist Church of Southern Africa Facebook page.

PRAYING GOD’S FUTURE FOR WEST VIEW IN 2021
The Society Stewards and staff will be meeting on Saturday morning 21^st November to plan for 2021. Whilst we hope and pray for the universal availability of a COVID-19 vaccine early in 2021, we will be strategising on the assumption that COVID-19 will be with us for the whole of 2021. This means that we must prepare to be a HYBRID Online/Onsite congregation. Every aspect of congregational life – group life, discipleship, pastoral care, children’s and youth ministry and mission and outreach will need to have an online as well as an onsite expression. There are many exciting ways in which we can grow and learn new ways of being the Body of Christ in a new world. Please can you all hold us in prayer as we listen for the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and guidance.

Grace and Peace

Ian
Senior Minster