ePianist Erin Foreman, front centre, with choir members and Deacon Gordon Yarde, back centre, at St. Paul's Anglican Church take part in the broadcast recording of a church servic aired on CJNB and CJNS. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW staff)     

By Angela Brown

Power of Radio

Church service offered on local radio

Jun 3, 2020 | 3:24 PM

Church services are being aired on the local radio station to make it easier for people who are not able to visit their place of worship during the COVID-19 restrictions.

Several of the Battlefords Anglican church congregants gather each week at St. Paul’s Church in North Battleford where the event is recorded.

It is aired at 7:45 a.m. on Sundays each week on CJNB and CJNS for the immediate future while the COVID-19 restrictions continue.

Rev. Trevor Malyon said the radio service fills a need in the community for many denominations who miss being able to attend service at their own church.

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“There are many of our members who do listen to the radio who don’t have access to email and Facebook,” he said. “I think it really helps to keep them connected to life in the church.”

Malyon said he is hearing a positive response from the community who listen to the service each week.

“By way of radio we are reaching more than our own parishioners,” he said. “That is why I think we are doing well in that way.”

The vestibule of the church essentially has been temporarily transformed into a small recording studio. Vestments and albs are draped along the walls to improve the sound quality for the recording. The choir participants each sit two metres apart to practise social distancing protocols. In total there are no more than 10 individuals participating to meet the COVID-19 restrictions for gathering currently.

The church’s pianist Erin Foreman said taking part in the broadcast has been a “positive experience all way around” for her.

“It’s been wonderful that something that could have potentially been really isolating actually has allowed us to reach more people in the community, to encourage people and maybe make them feel like they are not so on their own,” she said.

St. Paul’s Anglican Church People’s Warden Edward Harding first proposed the idea to the station.

Nic Fransoo, program director for CJNB, CJNS, Q98 and 93.3TheROCK, said the radio program started last month and will continue for the immediate future while the COVID-19 restrictions continue.

According to the province’s latest information, gatherings in places of worship will be restricted to a third capacity, for up to a maximum of 30 individuals in phase three of the Saskatchewan Re-Open plan, as of June 8. Separate households must maintain a two-metre social distance. Leadership from a number of local places of worship are still hesitant of having regular services yet however, with the restrictions in place.

When looking at the role radio serves in the community today, David Dekker, former general manager and part owner of CJNB, CJNS, Q98 and 93.3TheROCK, said it still has a strong place in the community.

He said at one time church services were broadcast on the local radio station on a regular basis, with various denominations taking turns hosting the event each week. It is interesting to see the renewed interest in radio again during the COVID-19 situation to meet the need, he said.

“The purpose was to bring the church into homes for people who for whatever reason were unable to go to church,” he said of the time when church radio was a regular occurrence. “They lived maybe out of town; maybe there were no churches where they lived but they could listen to it on the radio. The main purpose behind it was to provide to shut-ins and people that just couldn’t get in [to the community to attend in person].”

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW