Edmonton locations of worship swap to on-line providers after the province restricted capability to 15 individuals because of COVID-19
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Sherri McKinnon, Facility Manager for West End Christian Reformed Church in Edmonton, is disinfecting the church in preparation for a livestream service on Sunday, May 9, 2021. Current Alberta government pandemic health restrictions only allow up to 15 members at a time Attending church services. Photo by Larry Wong /POSTMEDIA NETWORK
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Churches, synagogues and mosques want to change their worship services again after the province introduced stricter restrictions on the number of people allowed to congregate earlier this week.
As of Wednesday, services in Alberta will be limited to a total of 15 people, a change from a previous 15 percent limit on fire department capacity.
Maureen Tabak, administrative coordinator for the West End Christian Reformed Church, said her congregation would only go online for the foreseeable future. She said those who are involved in delivering the service and making sure it is online will hit the 15 person limit.
“We actually worked on live streaming before COVID hit,” Tobacco said.
Tobacco said that while the transition is well known after hitting the same pivot point last March, having to send people home again is still disappointing.
She said the church followed all Alberta Health Service guidelines throughout the pandemic, including additional hygiene, checking in and out of visitors, observing mask rules, and keeping your distance from one another.
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Since the latest restrictions are in place for at least three weeks, she hopes they are short-term and everyone can come together to reduce the number of cases.
“I think we’re hopeful, but you know how it’s going. Everything seems to be changing. There’s not much you can do if people don’t get the program, ”Tobacco said. “We encourage people to get their vaccines and do whatever they can to follow the rules.”
While the church goes online, Rabbi Ari Drelich of Chabad Lubavtich, Edmonton, said that virtual participation in the Sabbath and other weekend events is not allowed under Jewish law.
“People are basically, I think they prepare mentally, who are listening, this is something we all have to buckle up for for a little while and please God you know we are going to fix the numbers, we’ll make it disappear and then we’ll be back on the regular schedule, ”said Drelich.
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Speaking to a relatively small community, Drelich said the latest restrictions weren’t too cumbersome, but he is currently seeking clarification from the province as to whether they could hold separate gatherings of 15 people in separate rooms, similar to recent rulings in Ontario and Quebec.
Alberta Health did not respond to requests for clarification on Thursday afternoon.
In the meantime, the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) Edmonton Mosque will also move most of its services online. Yasin Cetin, a spokesman for MAC, said the restrictions come at a difficult time as they plan to close down Ramadan services next week. He said they follow the 15 person capacity limit and require people to register online before coming to the mosque in person.
“It was quite a challenge for MAC,” said Cetin. “The demand was so great that our registration systems have crashed several times.”
He said in normal, non-COVID times, the mosque would be filled with gatherings fasting together this week.
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