Easter celebrations across Canada adapt to restrictions
Religious communities find ways to mark holidays from a distance
It took a global pandemic to change Deb Scime’s Easter plans.
Each year, about 50 relatives spanning four generations gather for a boisterous, pot luck brunch to celebrate a Christian holiday that has been an integral part of her family life since childhood.
But as physical distancing measures take hold across the country in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19, Scime said she and her loved ones are adapting their festivities to suit the times.
The clan will convene via Zoom, with participants logging in from British Columbia to Ontario to mark one of Christianity’s most important holidays.
Scime said she’s grateful for the technology that will allow a cherished tradition to carry on, saying the virtual format may even enhance the experience.
“Usually, those of us that are involved in hosting or preparing food are wildly busy at times like this, so it might give us an opportunity to visit a little bit more and spend a bit more time interacting with each other versus trying to get a meal on the table,” Scime said from her home in Burlington.
With gatherings banned and public health officials urging everyone to stay home, families, faith communities and congregations across Canada are finding ways to mark what are considered key religious and cultural events together — from a distance.
A new online survey conducted this week by the Angus Reid Institute found 25 per cent of respondents who identified as Christian, Jewish or Muslim planned to follow a religious service online. Nine per cent said they would pray with family or others over a video chat.
Another seven per cent of participants said they would use an app for prayer or meditation, and two per cent said they would talk to a religious leader on the phone.
More than a quarter of respondents, however, said they would pray on their own at home using a holy text or scripture.
The polling industry’s professional body, the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error as they are not a random sample and therefore are not necessarily representative of the whole population.