In the Roman Catholic Church, the week leading up to Easter is busy and replete with ritual, culminating in the Easter Vigil on the Saturday night.
Typically, members gather outside the church prior to the mass to light candles from a bonfire. This year was different, as Father David Hogman held the mass online. Like many other churches in the Comox Valley, Christ the King Church in Courtenay is looking at new ways to connect with congregants while physical distancing measures are in place. He admits it has been a little different, especially leading up to Easter.
“I had to forego our big bonfire this Easter,” he says.
For his parish, Hogman has been using YouTube for saying mass. Early on in his priesthood, he served in the Arctic Circle, so he had already explored ways to celebrate mass with people spread around a large area.
“I’ve done these services in the North,” he says. “I kind of got practised in how to do all of these things … with very few people around.”
Still, this year is different. For his Easter vigil, at one point in the video, he adjusts a candle to make sure it’s more visible on screen. At another, he laughs as he talks about his preparations yet admits to still forgetting the incense. It’s all a work in progress, and for all the tragedy happening world-wide, he remains hopeful that what is happening might transform people in some ways for the better.
While Hogman misses the element of having parishioners in the pews, he has been getting plenty of emails, including ones from across the country.
The parish includes different cells of people, he says, which can help others in the circle, to make sure everyone is doing fine.
“They are relatively good at keeping track of each other,” he says.
As well, he has a list to help members keep track of others, particularly ones living alone, and he has youth group members call to check on them regularly.
For many churches, there is a general understanding of the greater good at stake and they are complying with the guidelines. In some countries, churches remained open though people were encouraged to celebrate remotely. In the U.S., while many churches have come up with options to regular service, including the Internet, some churches have defied distancing measures.
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For some in the Comox Valley, like Rev. Ingrid Brown, trying new things is nothing new. She serves both St. George’s United Church as the minister for children and families in Courtenay and as minister of the Weird Church in Cumberland.
St. George’s offers different options on its website, to watch live through Zoom or Facebook. There are also recordings. There’s even a telephone option. It also offers mid-week prayer services at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, and Thursday evenings there is a children’s program with prayers, songs and stories. St. George’s continues to allow access to the building for volunteers to prepare for the Sonshine Lunch Club and distribute prepacked lunches daily on the front lawn.
At the Weird Church, Brown says they offer daily morning prayers on Facebook Live and regular monthly programming but online using Zoom, with appropriate security measures in place. They have also created Cumberland Food Share in partnership with the Cumberland Community School Society to help get food to those in need.
It has been an effort to move prayers and services online, but she credits volunteers for sharing their time to help others learn, especially at a time when many people want some spiritual guidance.
“There is, as you might imagine, an increase in spiritual need at this time, especially among those who are living alone. But all of our efforts have been so generously and graciously received, even as we bumble our way through, making our mistakes as we go,” Brown says.
Several other churches have been using online tools such as Facebook Live video. Some have also made copies of sermons available online. Bay Community Church in Comox is also using an increasingly popular format — the podcast. Pastor David MacKenzie says he has done sermons on Facebook for video. Later, they extract the audio tracks and upload them to a page on the church website, which gives his members a couple of different options to hear his sermons.
“It’s all in flux, of course,” he says. “We’re considering our options as we go through them, but in some respects, these two seem to cover most of our congregants’ needs.”
He says they do not have a huge congregation, but he has noted some new interest from the community since using Facebook in recent weeks.
“There is some opportunity here to reach people that perhaps we haven’t reached before,” he says.
With some limits to Facebook Live capacity, he has made adjustments such as giving shorter sermons and says he would likely need a YouTube channel if they were to be the regular duration. It has also been different shooting the videos without the congregation on hand.
“It’s definitely strange filming your actual sermons instead of presenting them,” he says. “The singing dimension is something I miss.”
He realizes many churches throughout the community are responding to the challenge, and he thinks the people they serve are being patient and understanding about the fact that services are going to be different for a little while.
“There’s a general appreciation of the efforts,” he says. “Pastors are working hard to try to adapt.”
mike.chouinard@comoxvalleyrecord.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
