Many Edmonton-area churches have plenty of pew space these days, as many haven’t returned to in-person services.
Catholic Archives of Edmonton represents 122 parishes and missions and celebrates mass in 16 languages, but participation in those is not what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Father Jim Corrigan estimates that only about 60 percent of the congregation has returned to in-person services.
“If we were used to having 600 to 700 people here for Sunday’s festivities, we probably have more than 400 now,” he said.
“Will we ever get back to where we were? I’m not sure.”
Corrigan, on Pastor Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish In Sherwood Park, Alta., believes people’s routines have changed while staying at home during the pandemic.
“Once you fall into a habit it is easy to get out of it. It is hard to get back into the groove,” he explained.
Due to less people sitting on the platform, the donation has also reduced.
“It certainly has had a negative impact on the resources available to our parishes, and by extension to the archdiocese,” Corrigan said.
But he said the reduction in revenue did not keep up with parishioners, as many were unable to attend mass.
Catholic churches also tried to make changes to address the shortfall.
“I think every parish made changes with their staff and personnel — to downsize,” Corrigan said. “So while income may not be what it used to be, expenses aren’t quite what they were.”
But he notes that there is one silver lining for the pandemic, and that is the move toward livestreaming services.
“One thing we’ve learned is that even before COVID, there were people who weren’t able to collectively: the older, the health-challenged, the mobility-challenged,” Corrigan said.
“We continue to livestream and we are confident that people who can scale up will eventually be inspired to do so.”
The church is trying to appeal to people on platforms that resonate with them.
“We’re definitely using social media: Facebook and websites, Snapchat — everything we can to market what we’re doing,” Corrigan said.
Read more: How COVID could change religion in Canada forever: ‘There’s no going back’
Christmas services gave hope that people might soon return.
Corrigan said, “Our 4 o’clock Christmas Eve Mass was as packed as the old days.” “It was a happy moment.”
But he believes that for congregations to grow each Sunday, he needs to feel welcoming and make people feel at home.
“It’s an honest and open invitation to come,” Corrigan said.
“We miss you and Jesus would love for you to visit him again.”
But Grace Lutheran Church In Edmonton’s Oliver neighborhood, the faith community has been around for a century. Services have been held in the current building since the 1950s, but the pandemic hit the church hard.
Eric Decorbee is the executive director of Grace Lutheran Church.
“We didn’t have much digitally,” he said. “So within a week it got us up and running with our livestream and forced everyone to participate in the online services.”
Like Catholic churches, Grace Lutheran continues to live streaming its services today.
Individually, the church also remains mindful of COVID: Hand sanitizer bottles are strategically placed at the entrance.
“People are welcome to wear a mask if they choose,” DeCorby said. “We have extra cleaning. We’re really trying to make it as safe as possible.”
But the effects of previous public health restrictions are still being felt every Sunday.
“Pre-pandemic we were averaging 200 people per week,” DeCorby said. “We had three services: two in English and one in Nuer for our Sudanese congregation.
“We’re now averaging 80 to 100 people at our services on a Sunday, then maybe 50 to 80 people watching online.”
The decline in participation saw the church lose a priest, as well as one Mass a week.
Grace Lutheran is currently sharing its large building with various community groups including the Oliver Community League and Narcotics Anonymous.
“It would be great if people were coming into the building for something else and then realized this would be a great place for them to come for services,” DeCorby said.
He said he doesn’t know exactly how to turn things around, but is trying to recreate activities for children and youth.
“Perhaps the Church as it was for the last 100 years is a little different now. We can still be effective and still do good things, but the way we do them may have to change a bit.
Evolve Church has doubled its congregation during the pandemic.
Sarah Ryan / Global News
However, at least one local church is bucking the trend. evolve It started just before the pandemic, hosting services at The Rec Room in South Edmonton Common.
Provides a contemporary celebration of evolving Christianity.
“I would say we are a living room and not a rock show,” said head pastor Jono Zanting.
He says his congregation has doubled to between 500 and 600 followers.
“We kind of got caught up in it, everyone’s just bringing friends and bringing family,” Xanting said with a smile.
He credits that success to offering hope and kindness when people need it most.
“You come out of the darkness of the last few years with an emptiness of relationship, an emptiness of community, an emptiness of real meaningful friendships,” Zunting said. “And I think the Church has an opportunity to meet that need.
“Our people, they’re not just friendly, they’re willing to be friends. I think there’s a big difference.”
But when the pandemic closed businesses like The Rec Room, Evolve lost its home.
Zanting eventually rented a warehouse to livestream the services, and eventually leased the church’s current home in South Edmonton Research Park.
When only small groups were allowed to worship, Evolve held intimate micro-masses—seven or eight of them every Sunday.
“There were literally 15 people right in the middle of this room,” Zanting recalled.
“We just sat in a circle and we prayed together and opened the scriptures together, talked about what was going on in people’s hearts and minds. We addressed fear and we addressed anxiety.”
He says those tight-knit services attracted many families, including some who didn’t have a church community before the pandemic.
“The beautiful, overwhelming response is from people who are new to the faith,” Zanting said.
“[These people]are saying, ‘This is changing my life, this is the hope I was desperate for, this is the community I was looking for, this is the family I didn’t think I had. possible.’ That piece has been worth all the pivots.
Zanting says he hopes Evolve is a place where people feel comfortable asking questions about faith, too.
And like other churches, Evolve has some members who continue to attend services virtually. Xanting hopes that over time, everyone will feel comfortable returning in person.