THUNDER BAY — Churches in Thunder Bay are taking time to properly prepare before reopening their doors to regular services.
Premier Doug Ford announced this week that places of worship can reopen to 30 per cent of building capacity starting this Friday, but churches have a myriad of details to work out.
For the Catholic diocese, it means local priests won't see parishioners on church benches until at least the end of the month.
Thunder Bay Bishop Fred Colli says he's grateful to the government for allowing the opportunity to reopen, but the earliest that can happen in the city is June 27 or 28.
"In order to prepare our churches for safety for those who come, in order to instruct our ministers and our priests about what they're going to do, we are following a guide given to us by the Ontario bishops called 'Worship Safe'. It means marking off pews, keeping social distancing, marking aisles for social distancing limits, instructing the priests about changes that have to take place for ceremonies," Colli said.
The bishop said the protocol also includes wearing facemasks and ensuring proper sanitizing of surfaces.
Colli plans to meet next week with priests to put the diocese's plan together.
Other local churches don't even have tentative opening dates yet.
At Redwood Park church, associate pastor Mark Davenport said Wednesday that "there are too many details that we don't have the answer to yet. Until we have a firm idea as to what the [government's] requirements are, there's no way reopening could happen very quickly. The chances are, it's going to be awhile, because of all the preparation work that needs to be done."
Davenport cited the need for "masks, sanitation stations, physical distancing, custodial,cleanliness, washrooms, wiping everything down. It's a significant undertaking, with volunteer teams. That's why we're going to be a bit delayed in getting there."
Redwood recently surveyed the congregation to ascertain what they would be comfortable with in terms of a reopening protocol.
Davenport said the feedback will be considered in establishing a plan.
Hilldale Lutheran Church Senior Pastor Jari Lahtinen said "we have to be very careful" about reopening.
"There has been some curiosity, and people have asked, but we don't have any plan," Lahtinen added.
Pastors within the synod that Hilldale belong to will have a Zoom meeting this week to discuss the situation, but Lahtinen doesn't expect their churches will be among the first to reopen.
He's leery about opening too quickly, he said, particularly considering that a large number of his parishioners are elderly.
Lahtinen has already noticed some problems during small gatherings.
"It's not easy to keep physical distancing between people. Many don't seem to remember that we have this pandemic, and when people don't hear very well, they tend to come too close," he said.
Lahtinen said the worst possible scenario is that churches open their doors, only to have to close them again.
"Because then I'm not so sure if people will still be committed to church life."
He's also wondering if members of the congregation are even anxious to resume church services right now.
In the back of his mind, Lahtinen said, he had been contemplating reopening sometime before Christmas.
Anglican churches in Ontario decided, before the premier's announcement, that they won't open until September.
Archdeacon Deborah Kraft of St. Paul's said that, like many churches across the city, they've had a strong response to livestreaming Sunday sermons.
"We're connecting with people in a really great way, and we want to keep everybody safe. There's a lot of things that we have to decide before we reopen....how many people, what are we going to do about communion, and so on," she said.
Kraft said St. Paul's is currently livestreaming five services a week.
"It's not a case where people are not feeling connected, although of course it's way better to do this in person," she said.
Kraft noted that one of the risks in resuming in-church services too soon is posed by the singing of hymns.
"So many droplets come out of your mouth when you sing. That's something that churches are really concerned about."
She said churches will also have to sort out which parishioners get to come to which service.
"If there's not that many people allowed in at the beginning, how do you decide who gets to come in and worship? There are just so many issues," Kraft said.
