Changes for churches

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/12/2021 (1390 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Confusion reigns about new public health orders for churches as Christian parishioners consider how to celebrate Christmastime while protecting themselves and their neighbours from the highly infectious Omicron variant.

Late last week, provincial officials unveiled a series of restrictions, coming into effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, that will require places of worship that restrict indoor services to fully immunized individuals to cut their capacity in half.

Churches, mosques and temples that do not require vaccination will soon be limited to whichever is less: 25 people or 25 per cent capacity, they announced.

The official written order, however, states regular religious services at the latter can continue if physical distancing is in place and attendance does not exceed 25 individuals or 33 per cent of typical capacity, depending on “whichever is greater.”

Provincial officials did not respond to repeated requests for clarification Sunday.

The chairwoman of the safe environment committee at Holy Family Ukrainian Catholic Parish said she was surprised to hear of the differing written details in the order.

“That might be of help. We may not have to turn anybody away,” said Vicky Adams, an active member of the parish’s council.

Given leaders are uncomfortable about the prospect of checking vaccine cards to allow entry, she said the congregation has opted to limit in-person services to 25 people, in line with the Friday announcement, just before Christmastime.

The church has been welcoming up to 60 people for services with strict physical distancing and masking in place, but even that cap is too little for the demand, said Adams, who noted they had to close the door on several families Sunday.

Pastor Dave Labdon of St. Aidan’s Anglican Church said the pandemic has made more people look at the foundation of their faith for strength; he said his congregation has grown in recent months as people rejoin and new members tune-in for online sermons from abroad.

“We are facing a tough time. We are going through tough times and there is suffering and some of us have lost loved ones during this time, and that’s really hard, but the hope that we have in Jesus is for eternity and this makes us and helps us to look at what we’re facing in a different perspective,” said Labdon.

The Anglican pastor said he wants people to hold onto that hope as they enter another pandemic Christmas, during which there will be a mix of in-person and online services at St. Aidan’s.

Following the latest public health announcements, Labdon said he and his colleagues made a difficult decision to draw up plans for upcoming holiday services, some of which will require full immunization to attend.

Some programs, including Christmas Eve events, will be open to a total of 75 vaccinated members of the congregation. Other upcoming in-person services are currently capped at 25 and available to anyone.

“I know that doing what we’re doing will cause hurt. I know some families will be divided by this and some families will be divided by the household protocol that’s being put in place, but I do genuinely believe that the right way to go about this is to support the health authority and the government,” said Labdon.

“I honestly love all the people who come to our church, but the way we love our neighbour at the moment is to support these protocols and if we’re able to have the vaccine, that’s how we care for one another.”

Susan Pearce and her mother, Lorraine Schmidt echoed those sentiments during an emotional interview after a morning service outside the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Cross Sunday.

“It really makes me angry to think that there’s (other parishioners) that don’t want to get vaccinated,” said Schmidt. “We were taught that you are your brother’s keeper — well, you’re not protecting your brother if you’re going to be foolish enough not to be vaccinated and go out there and spread the disease.”

Both women indicated they will be skipping a beloved annual tradition of attending church together on Christmas Eve again this year in response to rising concerns about Omicron and hospital capacity.

“It’s really sad. It’s a very big part of our Christmas. One of the most important things for us is to be together as a family on Christmas Eve in church and it’s a terrible thing, again, to go through,” said Pearce.

At the same time, Pearce said she knows firsthand — being a nurse — that it will be key for everyone to follow public health advice and limit contacts this holiday season.

The province announced 239 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, a daily record during the fourth wave. The latest five-day test positivity rate is 6.5 per cent provincially and 5.5 per cent in Winnipeg.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie