St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Medicine Hat is shown in the spring sunshine on Wednesday afternoon. Local church leaders are preparing to hold a second year of Easter services this weekend under the coronavirus pandemic.--News photo Collin Gallant
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
One year after in-person Easter services were cancelled and services thrown online in the rushed early days of the COVID pandemic, local church leaders say they are prepared for a second spring celebration under restrictions.
Capacity limits still linger, but clergy who spoke to the News this week say they are grateful the worst expectations of early 2020 didn’t materialize, yet are hopeful and praying for a return to normalcy.
“We kind of have our legs under us and how we can offer what we need to offer to as many people as we can,” said Rev. Jeff Lackie at St. John’s Presbyterian.
“I mean, nobody’s wild about an Easter service with only 35 people, it’s a damn sight better than last year.”
That year’s sermon focused on the New Testament story of the disciples’ fear after the crucifixion and before the miracle of Christ’s rebirth was revealed, and was delivered by Lackie, via the internet, from his back bedroom.
This weekend, Lackie will provide one in-person service in the downtown church’s hall (it provides better spacing), as well as broadcast it to those in the congregation who prefer to maintain social distance.
Many other churches will do the same, though having learned the ropes of producing more professional online broadcasts over the last 12 months, they now offer prayer groups and bible study through social media.
Many local churches will provide services under the current restriction of 15 per cent capacity on Thursday night to observe the Last Supper, then on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
When Easter, the most important celebration on the Christian calendar, was last observed on April 12, 2020, an initial lockdown was less than one month old.
At that point local pastors were still figuring out how to stage broadcast sermons as gatherings were banned. The Calgary Diocese of the Catholic Church released parishioners from Easter duty of performing confession during lent.
Glenn Runnalls, the executive pastor at Hillcrest Church, said his leadership group made the decision to accept rules as stated by health officials and have made the most of a stressful situation, holding in-person lessons when safe, but adding online pastoral services as well.
“We first heard about this little thing happening in China, but then there were images from Italy and very high number of deaths,” he said this week of spring 2020. “We were preparing for things that we didn’t know would or would not exist, and the potential for very grave illness.”
That included how best to provide support for health-care workers, potentially repurposing its large building, or vital aid to the community.
Planning also considered how to comfort and offer bereavement services to a potentially large number of people.
Though the coronavirus has taken a local toll, Runnalls stressed, it has proven to be manageable.
“It was hard to face,” he said. “We were only asked to be faithful and maintain that (physical) distance,” he said. “Struggle is at the heart of Christianity.”
In-person services returned in September, but capacity was reduced in November.
Rev. Dave Pollard, at Fifth Avenue Memorial United Church, said the decision was made to keep services online during the current uncertainty about variant cases.
There have been only four services in the historic downtown church over the past 12 months.
He feels the spiritual health of everyone has been tested, but has grown as well.
“We’re all kind of scarred and wounded by what we’ve been through,” he said Wednesday. “But that’s what Easter is all about.
“People are tired, but somewhat hopeful that this can be mitigated.”
Technology has had its limits, said Pollard, adding that after attempts to get many of his older parishioners online, Fifth Ave. Memorial starting offering a “dial a service” recording on standard phones.
Pollard says he intends to focus on “big-picture” issues for Christians moving forward, like strengthening the community in the face of job losses and the resiliency of the less fortunate.
Lackie plans to provide the sermon on Easter events as told in the Gospel of Mark, which he said ends abruptly but has an underlying message of optimism.
“It matches the mood,” he said.
Runnalls said the theme at Hillcrest this Easter is as always.
“He is Risen,” he said.
