New provincial public health restrictions to limit faith-based gatherings to one-third capacity at a time won’t do much to further disturb St. Albert’s places of worship.
Most of them have still been upholding the restrictions that were originally imposed in the spring to counter the first wave of the pandemic.
“We were able to meet physically at Red Willow Place when it opened a while back,” began Preacher Dean Anderson of the St. Albert Church of Christ, “but we decided to continue to meet virtually. We determined the risk versus reward was too great. We were meeting virtually and it was working well. There would be a chance that someone could contract COVID-19 and possibly affect other members' livelihood since they may have to stay home from work. At the time, we speculated there would be a rise in cases, and it turns out that's what happened.”
He noted that while there are certain drawbacks to meeting virtually, the members of the congregation are able to still make meaningful contact with one another for moral support.
Braeside Presbyterian Church is offering in-person services to a maximum of 50 worshippers, less than one-fourth of the sanctuary’s maximum capacity of 222 people. This accommodates approximately half of its regular congregation, offered Reverend Janet Taylor, with the remainder participating through worship recordings found on its website (www.pccweb.ca/braesidepc). A new livestreaming worship will begin on Sunday, Nov. 29.
Other changes are coming in December.
“We have chosen to have two Christmas Eve services (5 p.m. and 7 p.m.), which will require ‘reservations’ to be made by calling the church office at 780-459-6585 and leaving a message in order to ensure we remain within the 50-person limit for each service. There will also be a service on Christmas Day at 11 a.m.”
For its part, St. Albert Alliance Church has been gathering exclusively online since March 15 and is expecting to continue to offer virtual services and group meetings only for at least a few more months.
This works out well for that congregation, especially considering the ongoing renovations.
“One of the factors for us only engaging digitally over the past eight months has been that our building is under construction and we’ve had very limited access to parking,” explained Lead Pastor Jeremy Peters.
“We are keeping a close watch on how the pandemic progresses and are making plans to both continue to gather virtually for the time being – again, at least until 2021 – and also to gather in-person in the new year when it seems wise to do so.”
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