Niagara church didn’t break rules with drive-in service, Region says
Wellandport United Reformed Church welcomes about 45 vehicles to its parking lot
You can’t spell congregation without congregate.
That’s a sentiment Wellandport United Reformed Church pastor Joel Dykstra shared Monday in reference to a charter challenge the church filed last week arguing the provincial government’s COVID-19 restrictions on churches violates religious freedom and “right to freedom of assembly.”
An in-person service was held Sunday at the church, which was paid a visit from Niagara Region bylaw staff who issued no fines or warnings.
Niagara Region communications consultant Andrew Korchok said Monday a complaint had been received from the public.
Dykstra estimated as many as 100 people were in attendance Sunday, sitting in about 45 vehicles. They listened to the service by tuning their radio to an FM frequency. Dykstra was perched on a small tower encased in Plexiglas, crafted by tradespeople involved with the church, he said.
The province is allowing 10 people indoors and outdoors at church services, a figure which does not apply to drive-in events.
Weddings, funerals and other religious services, rites or ceremonies are allowed to be held in
a drive-in format “subject to certain conditions,” the province has said.
Dykstra said his church interprets the conditions as being that vehicles have to be at least two metres apart and must be “closed to the elements.”
Church members can’t bring their convertibles or sit in the back of a pickup truck, he said, noting these conditions would need to be enforced if the service format continues into the spring and summer.
A meeting was planned for Monday night for the church to review how things went.
“We’ll have a look at the positives, we’ll take a look at what the negatives were,” said Dykstra.
“I have a feeling we’ll carry on for now,” he added.
Around Christmas a “number”
of church members tested positive for COVID-19, including Dykstra, who did not have a specific figure on how many, but said his symptoms were “very minor” while he quarantined.
Asked if the cases could be linked to two indoor services that were held Dec. 25, he said it “could be possible.”
He said nobody was hospitalized and everyone who tested positive “recovered quite well.”
In December, Dykstra said about 200 or fewer people had been attending services since June under a 30-per-cent capacity rule that was in effect.
If the church loses it court case with the province, scheduled to take place in Welland at an undetermined date, it could cost up to $250,000 if the government asks for the church to pay its costs, said Dykstra.
The church has 617 members. Prior to government restrictions, its building was host to about 520 people each Sunday morning and about 380 on Sunday afternoons.
“The church and its members are committed to United Reformed theological beliefs and traditions and, as such, hold the sincere religious belief that all Christians are called by God to gather communally, in person, to worship God,” said a part of what the church is listing as its grounds for application in its Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms challenge.
Dykstra said his congregation isn’t buying into “conspiracy theories” that suggest COVID-19 isn’t real or serious.
“We don’t deny the severity of the virus, we don’t deny the need for protection,” he said Monday.
He said his members understand the importance of stopping the spread of COVID-19 — especially for the sake of the elderly.
“Nothing we are trying to do is in denial of any of that,” he said.
He hopes a compromise can be met with the government.
“It’s not an effort on our part to throw off the government and say, ‘Everything you’re doing is wrong and nothing you’re doing is right,’ ” said Dykstra, adding it is also not a goal to “pack the church out” with people.