Many churches are turning to the Internet to aid the faithful in their prayers, while others are having a more difficult time transitioning from the traditional church services in which a large group of people join together inside a building to worship.
"It is a question I think we are all dealing with," said Barrhead Alliance pastor Trevor Crowe. "How can we continue to trust in God and know that he is working with us even if we don't know what is happening?"
In addition to being the lead pastor at the Alliance Church, Crowe is co-chair of Barrhead's Ministerial Association with Chris White of the Rich Valley Community Church.
Since March 15, as part of its efforts to slow down the progress of the COVID-19 pandemic, the province has announced that houses of worship are no longer exempt from the ban of large public gatherings of 250. That number soon decreased to 50 and now as of March 27, no more than 15 people are allowed to gather.
Crowe said during times of crisis, such as the current one, people look to the faith community and churches, in particular, to be a "calming and compassionate presence".
For the most part, churches are looking to the Internet to keep connected. Unfortunately, not all churches, or their parishioners, have the same access or ability to take advantage of technology, said Crowe.
He added many churches, the Alliance included are also reaching out to their congregation via telephone.
"People are losing their jobs, grieving the loss of family members or friends, or struggling in loneliness ... that is why we are also calling people in our congregation, checking on them to see how they are coping," Crowe said.
At the United Church in Athabasca, minister Monica Rosborough delivered her first service through Facebook March 22 and plans to continue until it’s no longer necessary. There’s no fancy production values, but the service is still available on the church’s Facebook page for those who would like to take part.
“I think it’s important for us to remember we’re here for the community and my job is to help support and encourage and inspire people to think long-term, big-picture, and that we as Christians share and care about our neighbours. We are called not to hoard our toilet paper, but to remember the people who don’t have the emotional or physical or financial resources in this tumultuous time,” said Rosborough.
At the Westlock Gospel Chapel, with a congregation that numbers in the hundreds, pastor Tim Gurnett said they’ll be recording a service and putting it on the church’s website.
“A few of us are going to come together and record it and put it there … we’re letting our congregation know about that so they can still kind of come to church and are still connecting with the same people,” said Gurnett.
“Nowadays people can go to church at any time of day, anywhere. There are lots of churches that have it online. And hopefully in a week or two we’re going to try and have small home groups that would watch together and so that way it offers a little more of the church community.”
As for broad community support, Gurnett said they’re encouraging the congregation to help those in need.
“Anybody who you come across, do what you can to help them. And if it’s beyond what you can do, get in touch with the church and we’ll see what we can do to help them.”
Barrhead Bethel Pentecostal Church has also taken the digital plunge as interim pastor Bob Jones has been streaming services through the church's website. He also noted most of the church's other regular activities such as its youth groups, bible studies, family night are also taking place on Zoom — a website-based video conferencing tool.
The ability to continue its activities, through the Internet, is only one of his and other churches' challenges.
The other being funding.
A substantial portion of churches' revenue comes from donations during their activities. Jones said as the longer the virus prevents them from hosting live in-house activities the more they and their parishioners will need to learn how to use technology to contribute financially.
"Churches do not only have to pay their bills, but they need money to reach out to the community in compassionate ways, whether it is providing food to the food bank or any number of other missions," he said.
For those of the Catholic faith in the St. Paul Diocese — which includes Athabasca, Barrhead and Westlock — regular Sunday services are being live-streamed through the diocese’s YouTube channel by Bishop Paul Terrio’s from his chapel in St. Paul.
Father Paulson Kannanaikal from St. Gabriel’s Roman Catholic Church in Athabasca said the doors of his church are open for personal prayers, but large groups are discouraged, and now restricted by government order.
“All chapters are closed, according to instructions from the bishop. People can watch the services through social media and can come to the church for their personal prayers,” he said.
Westlock Baptist Church pastor Carson Cole said he’s had a steady stream of people drop by the church, just to talk — they’re following the social distancing rules and asking people to wash their hands. Officially they’ve cancelled all programs of gathering.
“Church never shuts down. I’m at the church everyday. I’ve had seven visitors since 8 o’clock this morning,” said Cole March 20. “A lot of people want prayer. A lot of people are worried about the virus, but the economy is probably a bigger concern right now. We will be here Sunday morning, but officially there isn’t a service.”
“We want to be responsible to what the authorities have told us to do and we’re abiding by their guidelines — I think everyone should. The doctor in our congregation has told us to take it serious, so we want to do our part.”
For those in self isolation, or who simply don’t want to go out, they also have a video podcast.
Get in touch
Town & Country This Week reached out to churches around the region for information about future services. If your church isn’t listed, contact them directly for more info.
The Westlock Gospel Chapel office hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday to Friday. Online sermons/contact information/other information is available at www.westlockgospelchapel.com.
St. Philip’s Anglican Church in Westlock is not holding normal Sunday worship service, but the church has been open or Sunday prayers from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
The Westlock Baptist Church is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 a.m., including Sundays. All regular studies and youth group events have been cancelled, but fellowship prayer and counselling are available — contact pastor Carson Cole at 587-340-9555 for more info.
All Sunday services at the Clyde Christian Bible Church are cancelled for the foreseeable future and will be reassessed in the coming week. Any pastoral concerns, questions, or needs can be directed to pastor Chris Lantz (call/text 780-283 2833; [email protected]). Online material (new sermons, music) can be found at their podcast: ccbc.buzzsprout.com.
Catholic services in the St. Paul Diocese are being broadcast on YouTube every Sunday at 11 a.m., led by Bishop Paul Terrio from his chapel in St. Paul. Services for Holy Week will also be live-streamed staring Palm Sunday, April 5 at 11 a.m. Holy Thursday mass will follow April 9 at 8 p.m. and Good Friday mass will begin at 3 p.m. with the Way of the Cross taking place at 7 p.m. Easter Sunday mass will also begin at 11 a.m. April 12.
The United Church in Athabasca holds regular Sunday services on their Facebook page at 10:30 a.m.
The Athabasca Reformed Congregation holds its regular Sunday service every week at 10:30 a.m., which are live-streamed through the church’s Facebook page.
With files from Barry Kerton & George Blais
Chris Zwick,TownandCountryToday.com
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