Resources to Use at Home During the Pandemic
As we find ourselves unable to meet in person during the State of Emergency declared in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, you may be looking for resources to help you stay connected to your faith in this time of self-isolation. The list below is not exhaustive and if you find something in your own “travels” that might be interesting or useful to others, please email it to the Rector to be included here.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
- St John’s Sunday Worship will be streamed from our Facebook page here
- The Primate streams from the General Synod Facebook page here
- The Bishop of Toronto streams from the Diocesan Facebook page here
- Orders of Service for St John’s worship services (online and in-person)
- Church of England Coronavirus Liturgy and Prayer Resources
- Daily services broadcast from Washington National Cathedral
You can also pray on your own using the prayer books of the Church, downloadable as PDFs. Please read the licence statement here before downloading and using. In the Book of Common Prayer, in particular, the understanding is that the faithful, clergy and lay alike, will pray every day using the Daily Offices. Perhaps it is time we recovered this discipline!
- The citations for the daily propers (Scripture readings and Collects) can be found on the General Synod Lectionary page.
- The Book of Alternative Services, 1985. The Daily Offices–Morning Prayer, Prayers at Mid-Day, and Evening Prayer–starting on p. 45 are all good resources for prayer at home. There are rubrics (instructions) before (starting on p. 36) and within each liturgy to help you figure out how to move through the order of service. There are also Home Prayers starting on p. 686 which you may find helpful and easy to use.
- The Book of Common Prayer, 1962. The Daily Offices are also in the BCP: Morning Prayer (p. 1), Prayers at Mid-Day (p. 16), Evening Prayer (p. 17), and Compline (Prayers at the end of the Day; p. 722). Forms of Prayer to be Used in Families begins on p. 728.
CHILDREN’S MINISTRY RESOURCES
- Illustrated Ministry Resources for the Time of Pandemic. This is the company that we buy our Sunday School curriculum from. They are offering free resources for families to use at home.
- 27 Indoor Activities For Kids Stuck at Home
- A Message for Kids about Coronavirus from the Public Health Agency of Canada
- 3 Things I Taught My Children About Daily Time with God (article)
ART/CULTURE RESOURCES
- Free Nightly live stream from the archives of the Metropolitan Opera
- A collection of free, online “boredom busting” resources: many are aimed at children and are learning oriented, but there’s a variety of links to things of interest for all ages
- “Music Monday 2020”: On Monday May 4, hundreds of thousands of children, youth, teachers, parents and community members across Canada will join #TogetherInHarmony for Music Monday. For more information, visit the Coalition Canada website. The day-long broadcast will include a series of exciting regional broadcasts with live performances, new music from their Youth4Music Ambassadors, interactive activities for kids of all ages, messages from prominent Canadians, a specially curated Spotlight Celebration, highlighting content from across the country, and an epic After-Party! The 2020 Music Monday anthem is Oscar Peterson’s iconic “Hymn to Freedom,” with lyrics by Hariette Hamilton. Registration available May 1st.