In many ways, churches have been some of the hardest-hit — along with pubs and nightclubs, ironically — by the pandemic.
Religious leaders of churches, temples, and the like depend on the very things that are most dangerous in this pandemic — gatherings of people — who are often older — singing and the sharing of items, namely books.
They are also based on the idea of reaching out into the community to help, something also harder in this time.
The Chief set out to find out how some Squamish religious organizations are managing through this time.
For the Squamish United Church, navigating the pandemic has not been easy.
“It goes without saying these are hard times,” said Rev. Karen Millard. “They’re difficult for everyone in different capacities.”
With seniors and the immunocompromised making up much of the congregation, the church has opted to suspend in-person services as a precaution.
“We feel like we’re making the right decision, and we all want to be together face-to-face and in community, you know? So it’s hard,” Millard said.
Weekly pre-recorded services by Millard, which are posted online, have taken the place of regular mass.
That isn’t to say there aren’t any more in-person gatherings at all. A bi-monthly outdoor children-and-family worship has been giving people a chance to meet outside of the virtual world.
“That’s actually been beautiful and well received. We go for a walk and talk about God and nature,” she said.
Zoom gatherings for coffee are still ongoing, and Millard said she’s still offering online or distanced in-person counselling services to anyone who needs someone to listen.
Financially speaking, the church is facing challenges.
To slash costs, it has had to cut some of its staff and will likely be reducing Millard to part-time hours next year to help keep the institution afloat.
At the moment, they are hoping that generous donors can lend a helping hand. They’re also asking anyone looking for event space to consider renting their church out.
But that isn’t stopping Millard from going full steam ahead on the annual Community Christmas Care charity giveaway.
Instead of food donations, Millard is asking people to donate money and gift cards, which will then allow volunteers to buy the goods and packages with fewer people involved.
The usual collection of donated food required swaths of people for sorting and packaging, but with pandemic restrictions, having a large group of people isn’t a feasible option.
Millard is also asking that people wishing to donate toys give new ones.
“If there’s anybody out there that really just needs support or some solace, or somebody to talk to,...we want to be there for the community,” she said. “Feel free to reach out and we will support in any way we can.”
Squamish Gurdwara
The Squamish Sikh Society’s Avtar Gidda said its approximately 500 families who usually come to the temple are keeping their distance and not gathering during the pandemic.
However, people can come to meet with the priest, individually or in family bubbles.
“When you come to the temple, keep your mask on your face — this is mandatory,” Gidda said.
The tradition of langar (food served in the community kitchen) has had to be stopped, for now, too. This is the first time the offering has been stopped since the temple was opened in 1983. Gidda added.
All gatherings and celebrations have been canceled, too.
On Nov. 13, there is a small wedding planned, if the authorities agree, he said.
“It is hard, but we cope with it with each other. It is necessary,” he said. “A safe practice is good for everybody.”
There are no services online as yet, but that has been discussed, he said.
People are carrying on with their prayers at home.
Like almost all the other religious organizations The Chief spoke to, the temple is losing some money at this time.
“Every bill we still have to pay... but we are in a not bad situation,” he said.
Ultimately, he looks on the bright side of things.
“We are OK. We have a good country, we have a good atmosphere. Everybody is happy, everybody is fed and looked after by the society as well as the government. So, there is no problem.”
St. John the Divine
When Rev. Cameron Gutjahr arrived in Squamish July 1, 2019 to be the new Priest of the St. John the Divine Anglican Church, he knew he would have a steep learning curve. After all, it was his first church in a new town.
But, a pandemic was not on his radar.
“I was right out of school. This is my first year, my first church, my first everything,” he said with a chuckle.
“Definitely [a pandemic was] unexpected and definitely showed me, I wasn’t trained for this — producing a video every week and doing some of these skills — but there is so much learning in it. I have been so grateful for the wider Squamish community as well as the community of St. John’s. They have just risen up and supported each other and me.”
The church pivoted pretty quickly to online services, he said.
“That has been fairly well-received.”
Starting at the end of September and the beginning of October, the congregation began to meet again in person, with many pandemic restrictions in place.
“We have been having, every Sunday evening at 5 p.m., very short, small... services,” he said. “Very contemplative and reflective, simple.”
This past Sunday was the first time getting back together on Sunday morning.
There will only be two gatherings in November and the numbers are kept small, he said.
“We have removed the pews from the church and limited the number of people who can be there.”
People have to register ahead of time, which also helps with contact tracing.
There is a health screening by greeters when congregants arrive and social distancing is in place.
Services are still streamed, too, for those not comfortable coming back in person.
“We are doing the best we can with what we have,” he said, noting the tough part is when members of the church are dying or die and not being able to be as physically present in those moments to offer pastoral care for the dying and their family.
“That has been a real heartbreaking time,” he said.
But Gutjahr stressed that for all the challenges of the pandemic, and there have been many for his church and people in general, he has found a lot of beauty in it too.
“It is when people are really caring for each other — when I get to see that. And when, out of hardship, people really reach out with compassion and care for each other.”
The Rock Church
Sarah Whitsed of The Rock Church, which is affiliated with the BC Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, notes that unlike many congregations, The Rock is made up of many young families.
She is the family ministries director at The Rock, leading Sunday school for the organization’s children.
Also unlike many traditional churches, The Rock was already online when the pandemic hit, she said.
Initially, when the pandemic hit, the church closed down completely. The congregation meets at The Ledge Community Coffee House, but had always streamed their Sunday services through Facebook.
“But what was new specifically, for our church was we are very into small groups — we call them missional community groups — which we use to reach out into the community. It is groups of people who get together each week and we share a meal together and spend time praying and reading our bibles together and stuff and we talk about and look at ways we can be engaging with and helping the community.”
With the pandemic, those groups had to pause. They shifted to video chats and later outside in-person park small gatherings.
“But that has been a bit of a challenge because community is such a big part of our faith,” she said.
The church has recently been meeting in person again. An online registration goes out Thursday or Friday. The capacity is about 30. There is social distancing in place and masks are mandatory.
There’s no group singing.
A big part of The Rock, like other churches in town, is helping others, so it has been challenging to find a way to do that, Whitsed said.
With almost everything else stopped, the pandemic has allowed people to focus on those in need, however, Whitsed said.
“That is a really good emphasis, that we are re-learning... and remembering that there are people less fortunate than us and that we can be loving on. That is where the shoebox campaign comes in.”
The congregation is participating in the nationwide project Operation Christmas Child.
The Ledge is an official drop off centre for the campaign; from November 16 to 22.
“Anybody who wants to do shoeboxes can come and pick one up during the coffee shops opening hours and we have a big team of volunteers who are going to be helping with receiving the boxes.”
The boxes can be picked up at The Ledge and come with a pamphlet that explains what should and shouldn’t be included.
How it works is people can fill the boxes with small gifts and then they are distributed to 150 different countries around the world.
This is not a Christmas thing, she noted, though it corresponds with the western Christian season.
It is recognized that places, where the boxes end up, may not celebrate the holiday.
“It is a great thing to do... but it is a great way to teach our kids that it is a season of giving and loving and just help remind our kids that we are super fortunate, even those of us who are struggling with COVID right now — there are so many people who have it worse than us right now. It shows people they are loved and spreads joy.”
Squamish Congregation Jehovah’s Witnesses
The Squamish Kingdom Hall, which opened 17 years ago, has 105 congregants. (The Squamish chapter began in 1955 with a small congregation in Brackendale)
As soon as the pandemic hit, all its houses of worship shut and have remained so.
“It was a concern for fellow congregants, but also for our neighbours, too. We wanted to make sure there was no problem there,” said Grant Cook, the BC media spokesperson for Jehovah’s Witnesses.
“To Jehovah’s Witnesses, the respect for life is important to us.”
Video conferencing was set up immediately.
After their main meeting, the congregation breaks up into smaller virtual rooms.
“It has been interesting that over this time, we have seen an increase in attendance, and that is generally across the country, so that has been great.”
Cook says that this period has brought the congregations closer, thanks in part to the ability to reach people virtually, including a 90-year-old member who uses Zoom to engage with the service.
Before the pandemic, people could call in to listen to services, but there was not video conferencing. After COVID-19, Cook said it is likely the conferencing will remain available for those who prefer it.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are known for their door-to-door ministry, and that has been stopped too, due to COVID.
“Now we are trying to contact people by mail or through video conferencing,” Cook said.
This month the organization has launched a global online “What is God’s Kingdom” campaign, for example.
In terms of putting the pandemic in perspective, Cook said Jehovah’s Witnesses lean strongly on the words in the Bible.
“And of course Bible prophecy,” he said. “Thousands have prayed for the Kingdom to come, so the Lord’s Prayer. Jehovah’s Witnesses focus on that. That is what is keeping their faith strong and their hope strong. The Bible helps us cope with the day-to-day stresses that we have.”
Bird’s eye view
Even for researchers, it is difficult to say for certain how churches across Canada are doing, or how they will ultimately fare due to the pandemic, given that they are still in the middle of the storm, according
Michael Wilkinson, a professor of sociology at Trinity Western University.
He said, generally speaking, what a look at churches and temples and the like shows is that many were thinking at the start of the pandemic that it was something they could ride out for a month or so.
“We will just quickly go on to Facebook live or we will get our phone and watch the pastor talk or the priest talk. But it was really, really basic,” he said, summarizing what he heard from religious leaders early on in the pandemic.
Over the summer, some churches were adapting and offering more polished online productions.
Wilkinson, who is also the director of the Religion in Canada Institute and co-ordinator of the Canadian Pentecostal Research Network, said that many churches in Canada have about 50 in their congregation.
And it is well known that church participation has declined in recent generations.
A 2019 Research Co. poll found only 3% of British Columbians say they attend services at least once a week.
On the whole, congregations are small, and older.
“It isn’t that people aren’t going to church, they still are, just not as often,” he said. “There are still over 30,000 congregations in Canada and still, even with the decline, there are still just as many participating .... most of them tend to be older people.”
Wilkinson fears some churches may not survive the pandemic, financially.
“But having said that, most congregations still are primarily funded by a small group of people who are part of that congregation,” he said, noting that the passing of the plate in person is not as fundamental as it was decades ago. There are electronic means to give, for example, that were in place for some churches before the pandemic.
“About 20% of people in a congregation... are the main financial givers.”
Those people are still giving, for the most part.
On the flip side, he said he is hearing of some who are connecting with churches they would never have been exposed to due to the access they can make online during this time.
“When it is online, you don’t have to watch something locally. You can watch it from wherever it is coming from in the world.”
He said his hunch is, though, that the pandemic isn’t going to send lots more people to religion.
“B.C. rates of no religion are multi-generational,” he said. “There are lots of families that have no connections.... so I am not that bullish on the idea that they are all going to return, somehow.”
Perhaps bucking the trend in Squamish, though, is a new Pentecostal church called Avant Life Church Squamish, which is setting up in the former Squamish Community Church on Buckley Avenue.
Lead pastor Ben Narayanan said the church has a campus in North Vancouver, and is expanding to Squamish. Currently it has a core of about 20 members in the district.
The plan has been in place to move to town since November, obviously before the pandemic.
Like other organizations, they are reaching out to congregants online. They plan to renovate the old church, applying to the District to increase the footprint of the old building, eventually to include a coffee shop and childcare centre.
“We’ve never been one to think we can achieve something impossible overnight,” Narayanan said. “Being able to meet people and have our community grow slowly, one by one. And seeing those people who are isolated or looking for a faith community that is their expression join and be a part of that is pretty exciting.”
About 60% of the church is between the ages of 18 and 35, he said.
