POLICE BREAK UP TWO MENNONITE CHURCH GATHERINGS

Police have laid charges after they say large gatherings were held two days in a row in a Wheatley, Ont., church this past weekend. Chatham-Kent Police say they found more than 100 people without masks inside the church on both occasions. Police say a 50-year-old man from Merlin, Ont., was charged over the gathering at Old Colony Mennonite Church on Saturday. Officers asked everyone to end the church service early and leave the property. The next day, police were called to the same church and found another similar gathering. They say another man from Merlin was charged. Both men are accused of failing to comply with the Reopening Ontario Act, which limits religious gatherings to 10 people indoors or outdoors during lockdown. They have been scheduled for court appearances in January. Ontario was placed under a provincewide lockdown on Saturday, which will remain in effect for 28 days in southern Ontario. Old Colony Mennonites are one of the largest Mennonite denominations in Ontario.