"Here's the church, and here's the steeple
Open the door and see all the people."
The popular nursery rhyme has brought smiles to children’s faces for generations, but for the first time in Cochrane’s history the church doors are closed and there are no people.
Come Sunday, the morning sun will still filter through the stained glass windows of some churches and project colourful patterns across the floor. The church pews will be empty though, and the hymnals will remain untouched.
“This is all new to everybody,” said Father Dennis Vavrek of St. Mary’s Parish in Cochrane.
On Sunday (Mar. 15) the provincial government announced that places of worship are no longer exempt from restrictions on mass gatherings related to the COVID-19 outbreak. Two days later Premier Jason Kenney declared a state of public emergency and announced further restrictions to public gatherings, ordering any gatherings with more than 50 people cancelled.
St. Mary’s Parish had their last service on Mar. 15. Vavrek remarked that attendance was dismal. He said the church usually sees upwards of 600 people Saturday night and Sunday morning. Only about 150 attended both days.
“This is surreal and very different. It’s sad and very painful.” Vavrek was surprised too that most of the church’s children stayed home Sunday morning. The children that did attend Sunday’s children’s liturgy were dismissed and joined their parents for the main service.
In the 33 years since becoming an ordained minister, Vavrek has never seen anything like this.
“This coming weekend is going to be very uncomfortable because we can’t celebrate the Eucharist. It’s a sick to the stomach kind of feeling. I wake up in the morning and say ‘I can’t plan for anything, I can’t look forward to anything’”.
The church has been forced to alter its delivery. Most of the congregation has been brought together online and have been sending messages of support to one another. Vavrek says the church will likely move to live streaming their services, but he’s longing for the way it was.
“As God’s people you celebrate your faith and pray together. Watching it online falls short.”
He said in the meantime parishors can work at their relationships, spend more time with family and encourage and support each other.
“Tragedy and difficult times help us to grow up. If everything is a smooth path we tend to get spoiled and complacent. This will help us to grow up individually, collectively there will be maturing going on here in all of this.”
Minister Ray Goodship of St. Andrew’s United Church held their last service on Mar. 8. They cancelled their services early because the church wasn’t equipped to allow for space between parishioners. He was also worried about the elderly members of the church and didn’t want to put them at risk.
“There was so much uncertainty about it and with what was going on and conflicting messages,” Goodship said about the virus. The church will continue their weekly lunch from 12-1 p.m. on Tuesdays. The lunch will be “on-the-go”. Attendees can pick up their 16oz bowl of soup and a spoon at the door. The church won’t be allowing anyone inside and will do their best to prevent any lineups.
“We’re really focused on community. We want to make sure that people who need a meal, get that. A number of folks wouldn’t eat if they didn’t come.”
Goodship explains that morning worship is only an hour a week, but outside of that hour the church is still an important piece of people’s lives. The church will conduct business as usual. After Sunday’s announcement from the government Goodship admits he was stressed and overwhelmed by making key decisions. He had to cancel weekly concerts, an art show and all rentals at the church.
“All the things that church is about are still happening, it’s just how do we deliver that in a different way? It might not be the most efficient or meaningful way right now, compared to being in person, but I think we can find ways to fulfill our purposes.”
Until the church begins their own live stream, Goodship is directing parishioners to watch other United church services in the province.
Pastor Wade Paton of RockPointe Church on Lochend Road in Bearspaw said last Sunday was their first experience moving their entire service online. The church already streams their services every weekend, but last Sunday was unique because the church was empty.
“It was essentially like any weekend service except that nobody was in the seats,” Paton said. In the past he has seen viewers tune in from around the world, not just locally. Paton said word of mouth reaches and social media has helped bring church to the masses. The church has been streaming their services for about two years now. Some of their members who are immobilized or ill only watch the service from home.
The message the church prepared last week touched on hope and perspective.
“Our role was to provide some spiritual and emotional care. Optimism can be a bit blind. There’s not much substance to it. Whereas hope, hope is rooted in truth which is better than empty optimism.”
In an effort to bring the church together in this current crisis, RockPointe Church has launched an online program that pairs members who need help with members who are willing to help. Paton says more than 100 members are on standby and are equipped to be deployed when asked.
Lead pastor Jason Koleba of the Cochrane Alliance Church had to educate himself on what self-isolation means when his wife returned from South Africa recently. Since her return he has been communicating to his congregation on Facebook Live from his home’s spare bedroom.
“I don’t think I fully understood what self-isolation would mean for our family,” he said from his Cochrane home. Koleba thought his wife would isolate and he and his family could interact with her and go about their daily business. That wasn’t the case he quickly learned.
“I have a great staff team and they’ve picked it up quite well. My own assessment is I’ve been moderately effective at home remotely and now, as of today (Mar. 19), our physical office is closed and the entire team is doing the same thing as me now.”
“Our entire church, for the most part, exists online.”
On Thursday afternoon 14 people joined Koleba on an online conference call. He said a third of people on the call have already experienced job loss related to the coronavirus outbreak. The church’s women’s group met earlier in the morning on Facebook Live for the first time and he will also continue with his podcast to communicate with church members.
He admits that a 14 day isolation will be challenging for the family, but he’s thankful that no one is exhibiting symptoms. His biggest challenge is keeping his four daughters off screens.
“It gets a little stir crazy in here sometimes, but I really want to down play any stresses that we might be under. We’re doing pretty good in general.”
COVID-19 UPDATE: Follow our COVID-19 special section for the latest local and national news on the coronavirus pandemic, as well as resources, FAQs and more.
