Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic commenced early in 2020. Starting in China, it rapidly spread across most of the world. It arrived in Canada during the early part of March, 2020. By the end of that month it was recognized as a very dangerous disease requiring abnormal and stringent measures affecting both individuals and groups. As the effects of the pandemic became clear, St. John’s began to take a number of actions as outlined by both Government and Health authorities. Following is a listing and explanation of the various steps taken by St. John’s to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.
St. John’s Community Support Group: This group of volunteers formed towards the latter part of March, 2020. Their aim was to assist members of St. John’s. They provided meals on a weekly basis, delivered Sunday service handouts to those who did not have a computer for email messages and made telephone calls to maintain voice contact with those who were being assisted. Over the ten weeks of this activity the Group delivered over 300 meals to various congregational members.
Audio Recordings of Sunday Sermons: By mid-March it was necessary to cancel all worship services at St. John’s for at least the following two Sundays in accordance with health authority recommendations. In the event, the worship services remained cancelled until early September. Pastor Albert then started the provision of weekly emails that contained not only a written sermon but an audio file of the sermon that could be heard by recipients. Copies of the email and sermon were hand-delivered to members without computer services. This practice carried on until the end of August, with additional sermons provided from Synod. You may click the link below to hear one of Pastor Albert’s audio sermons as originally sent by email.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12bgK8bOPVc1i5mNxIDHzdlil4TtgvTDU/view?usp=sharing
Gathering of Records: In a letter to all congregational members, the Council President made the following statement: “A closure of this magnitude has never occurred in the history of St. John’s or any other church in this area.” As the mandate of St. John’s “The History Auxiliary” is to “Keep The Records,” a collection of documents, images, newspapers, emails, website information and other relevant items was started in late March. Items date from as early as March 6th, 2020 and will continue to be collected until the effects of the pandemic on St. John’s are terminated. The records are being stored in a large binder, in large newspaper storage boxes and in digital folders holding both text and imagery.
Maintenance Work: In some cases, necessary maintenance work continued in the face of the pandemic. Two examples are the roof repair and the furnace replacement, both completed during the summer months.
Return to Worship: As early as July a draft plan to recommence worship services had been formulated, all the while understanding that additional COVID-oriented problems might modify the plan. As it was, and in concert with a “Covenant for the Safe Resumption of In-Person Worship” issued by Eastern Synod, worship resumed on September 6th with an outdoor service to dedicate our new “Friendship Garden.”
Friendship Garden: An application by church council for a grant from Renfrew County to build a Community Garden was subsequently approved. Work commenced in August and was almost completed, and plants in place and growing, by the end of the month. Vegetables raised in the Garden will go to support individual congregational members and Food Banks in Pembroke, Petawawa and Deep River.
The COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet. The Omicron variant was first detected on November 22, 2021 in Botswana and South Africa. This variant is far more contagious than the earlier COVID-19 variant. As of January 7, 2022 this variant had been confirmed in at least 135 countries. As of mid-January, 2022, St. John’s and the province of Ontario are experiencing a lockdown due to high rates of hospitalization due to Omicron across the province and is several parts of Canada. We are unsure at time of writing just how long the Omicron problem will last.