Faith groups gather again to worship
Church welcomes congregants back for service as COVID-19 restrictions loosen
At a church where hugs are as much a part of the service as hymns, the first Sunday back inside for members of Celebration Church was highly unusual.
Childcare workers wore face shields, congregants who wanted to sing donned a mask, and family cohorts sat six-feet apart in the pews.
“Whatever you do, do not turn around and shake someone’s hand,” said Pastor Dennis Varty as he preached before roughly 150 people attending the 9:30 a.m. gathering, one of three services held at Celebration Church on Father’s Day.
Like other churches across the city, Celebration Church spent the last week or more planning for a return to worship inside the building now that Alberta Health Services has lifted some restrictions on religious gatherings.
As part of the Stage 2 provincial relaunch, there is no cap on the number of people who can attend services, as long as physical distancing and other public health measures are in place.
At Celebration, which is located on Argyll Road, that means the cappuccino bar is closed, the water fountains are shut off, and gathering in the expansive lobby, cosy with a gas fireplace and benches for chatting, is forbidden.
People who want to visit after the service are invited to do so in the parking lot.
“We want to honour the guidelines that are set out,” said Celebration team leader and volunteer Trista D’aoust. “But coming together is a big part of who we are, so that’s important, too.”
Normally, 1,500 people attend weekly services. D’aoust said organizers were expecting about half that on Sunday, a number that corresponds to a recent congregation survey, which revealed half the church members were ready to take part in person. Since March, services have been online, attracting as many as 7,000 participants for Easter Sunday.
“We’re so pumped to see your faces again, and not on a screen,” Varty told a pre-service huddle for volunteers.
Normally, Father’s Day at Celebration is busy because, for 20 years, the church has hosted a show-and-shine car event that attracts about 15,000 visitors. As such a gathering was out during COVID -19, Varty drove his motorcycle on the stage instead, where it joined a four-piece band and four lead singers to enliven the service.
The vast majority of people on site were well under 50, indicating that older members of the congregation may stay away if they are nervous, said D’aoust.
Over in the church’s child care area, a separate structure with three different daycare rooms, a gym and a theatre, child care director Emma Luyimbazi watched closely as staff followed the new protocols for Sunday school.
All families and volunteers were screened before they entered the building. To facilitate contact tracing if it became necessary, children were checked in at ipad stations behind Plexiglas shields, and assigned codes that were matched to their parents.
Randy Kerenyi, who attends Celebration with his wife and their adult children, was excited to be at Sunday’s service.
“You can worship at home, online, but it’s not the same as the feeling you get with being with other people,” he said. “When you are with the whole group, the emotional and spiritual impact deep in your soul is different.”
We want to honour the guidelines that are set out. But coming together is a big part of who we are, so that’s important too.