Singing

Many of us are missing being able to sing and to hear our beautiful choir sing.  Our music director, Liz Lambert, has been asked about this recently. Sadly, we are not yet at a stage where we can freely allow singing in the church or out-of-doors.  Though we did engage in some singing last week (out-of-doors, following provincial guidelines) it has been made clear this week that we must not do so for the time being.

Our Diocesan Bishop, The Right Reverend Andrew Asbil wrote the following to the diocese yesterday: 

I also want to mention singing. I know that many of us long to hear voices lifted together in song, and to sing our praises to God alongside friend and neighbour. I hear a yearning across the Diocese to reclaim this deep and holy expression of our faith. I must ask again for your patience. Until we know how the fourth wave of infections will materialize, with the Delta variant and students returning to school, we aren’t prepared to make a change to our guidelines. This will be an ongoing conversation over the next month, and I commit to saying more on the subject in the week after Thanksgiving.

We are currently following the Amber Guidelines put out by our diocese which state:

No choral or congregational singing is permitted. Recorded music is permitted.  Instrumentalists are welcome subject to physical distancing. Indoors, solo vocalists must maintain a minimum 4-metre distance from the congregation and other musicians.  Only one voice may sing at one time.  The vocalist must be masked while singing.

I hope that you do sing - when you are on your own or with your family!  We send out the words to the hymns each week hoping that people do sing along.  Having had to be so quiet for so long, many of us are appreciating the value and importance of music and song in our faith journey, in carrying the hope in our hearts.

Let us continue to offer love to one another and our community by bearing with these regulations, hopefully only for a little while longer.