Gibson Memorial United Church – Storm Cancellation Policy – January 2025
Worship may need to be cancelled at times due to extreme weather conditions, power outages, or other unforeseen issues with the church building. Using safety of our congregation and staff as the criteria, worship will be cancelled if required.
The decision to cancel worship will be made by the Chair of Worship after having conversations with the Minister, a second member of the Worship committee, and the Chair of Council. In cases of inclement weather, worship will be cancelled if local police advise motorists to stay off the roads and/or if the minister is not available to attend service. Every attempt will be made to replace the minister to avoid canceling worship service. This could include hiring another minister or asking a Team of church Worship volunteers to conduct the service in place of the minister.
Should a scenario occur necessitating the cancellation of worship, every attempt will be made to notify the congregation as soon as possible. A congregational email will be sent by the Church Administrator to all members on our email list no later than 9 AM on the Sunday morning involved. A notice will also be placed on the church Facebook page by 9 AM. In the case of an afternoon or evening service, the information will be shared at least three hours prior to the service start time.
When circumstances permit, a Zoom service will be provided in place of the cancelled in-person service. This could potentially be done from the homes of the involved participants (Minister and Organist) rather than the church building. The congregation will be made aware of a Zoom service opportunity in the above-mentioned information email/Facebook message.
