(file photo/meadowlakeNOW staff)

By Elliott Knopp

ML Churches

Meadow Lake spiritual leaders treading with “cautious optimism” following ease of capacity restrictions

Mar 18, 2021 | 2:24 PM

Religious leaders in Meadow Lake are rejoicing following the first Sunday after the Government of Saskatchewan eased restrictions on the capacity of people allowed to attend religious services.

On Friday, the province gave religious institutions the green light to welcome in 30 per cent of their capacity, or 150 people, whichever is fewer. People attending services are still required to wear masks and follow social distancing, but members of the clergy are permitted to remove theirs while they are in session.

Our Lady of Peace Parish Father Doug Jeffrey said while the church is pleased with the announcement, attendees and staff will continue to operate under more care.

“One of the things I’m concerned about is the number of positive cases in Meadow Lake. Hopefully, the cases continue to do down and things will be good,” Jeffrey said. “I would say there is cautious optimism. People are happy about that and I think there is some relief, but at the same time, until many of the folks are vaccinated, there will be some caution.

“There is certainly some excitement around the idea of being able to have more folks at the liturgies. Over the last month or so, people have been feeling very confident and had a few more folks coming to the masses. Now we’re looking forward to even more.”

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The same can be said over at Meadow Lake Alliance Church. As people started filing in on Sunday, Lead Pastor James Witherow compared the reopening and the capacity expansion to a family reunion saying the joy is overwhelming.

“It was almost surreal when we started to see people for the first time. It’s going to be a little like that again. There’s kind of wonder with it to look around and see how people have changed,” Witherow said.

“I think it’s a breath of fresh air for a lot of folks. We’re really excited because it gives us an opportunity to be together in the same place at the same time. It’s one of those things where after you’ve been away from folks for a while, you realize how much you miss being with your community family.”

While the reunifications have instilled some sense of hope for a full reopening this year, Witherow added members of his faith are also treading carefully and approaching the situation with an abundance of caution.

“I think the biggest factor is that part of the reason people are looking forward to get together so much is because they have been doing really well at following the rules and keeping distant. A lot of people have chosen to stay home, even though they know they could’ve come in. As far as opening up the capacity more, there will be a lot more attention to those details, especially off the bat. We don’t want to respond to the open policies with reckless abandon. We are trying to take everything carefully and in a thoughtful manner.”

Father Jeffrey stated members of the church are keeping an eye on the variant strains of COVID-19 in other areas across the province as some members have connections in those communities. He added they are making the effort to protect the older members and reduce case numbers in the hopes of a full reopening in June.

“There has been some concern about the variance and it seems to be taking off a little bit in the Regina area. There are folks here that have connections in Regina and they’re concerned about if it will come here and if there will be a third wave here. They’re looking forward to June when the majority of the folks here in Saskatchewan will be vaccinated. We’re looking to have an outdoor celebration where we can gather and have some type of a barbecue or get together of some sort.”

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Elliott.Knopp@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @ElliottKnopp