Media Release, Pentecost 2020 committee

In light of recent developments regarding COVID-19, the executive organizing team for Pentecost 2020 has chosen to postpone the May 31, 2020 gathering at Sasktel Centre. The leadership and infrastructure will remain in place, as the team discerns plans and details for the future service.

Father Jakob Palm, project lead for Pentecost 2020, expressed regret about the necessary decision. “It is with a heavy heart we choose to postpone Pentecost 2020. We were looking forward to meeting under one roof to worship Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit,” he said.

“It is particularly difficult because the churches in Saskatoon all desire to be of service to all, but in particular to the ones who are isolated, sick, brokenhearted and in need of help. To be church is to be of service to others and the nature of this virus makes it harder to serve. We want to encourage each church to discern how they best can help our city and its citizens at this point in time, ” he said.

“Even though our ability to gather has been limited at this time, we encourage people to reach out to each other via phone, computer or other forms of digital messaging. We wanted to come together, we still need to, just in a different way for now. We encourage people to continue to pray for our city, our province, our country and the world, although it might be from home.”

To date, about 50 churches were planning to be involved in the May 31 service in some way, and a broad representation of leaders from the city-wide church was expected.

Fr. Jakob adds: “We believe that the body of Christ – the church – extends beyond time and space. As such, the church remains present regardless of what is happening in the world. As different churches, we will continue to serve as best as we are able in the contexts we find ourselves in. At this time, we have to reschedule this gathering out of care and concern for our neighbour. The church is one in the Holy Spirit, but we will have to wait for the physical expression of that.”

The webpage www.pentecost2020vision.com as well as @pentecost2020sk will continue to operate and will be updated continuously with information as it becomes available. “It is our hope that people can visit our different online platforms and feel encouraged by the content that will be posted and that there will be a sense of belonging and connection during this time of increased time at home.” says Daria Malin, coordinator of communication and marketing.  

“A silver lining in this, is that it gives us more time for more connections with churches and people to be involved in the future Pentecost gathering. We are so grateful to all partners. A special thanks to Sasktel Centre, Five Stones Films, Boost Strategic Coaching, @islandandthepraries and our web developers. They have all been nothing short of stellar to work with. It is our hope that everyone involved will continue their partnership with us.” concludes fr. Jakob Palm.“

Anyone interested in learning more, or in being involved, is invited to e-mail fr. Jakob Palm at: pentecost2020vision@gmail.com

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