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Valley churches re-imagine Christmas services

“That means a lot to me,” said Rev. Howard Thornton. “That even if I can’t be with them in person, we’re still able to share in some way, and I’m just wanting to encourage people, maybe, that they might find some hope and some happiness at Christmas if they can’t be with their children in person."
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Ralph Connor Memorial United Church Canmore on Tuesday (Dec. 15). EVAN BUHLER RMO PHOTO

BOW VALLEY – It has been a long year, filled with restrictions and closures and altered plans brought on by COVID-19 and how people of faith celebrate Christmas is not exempt from the disruptive influence of the virus.

At Ralph Connor Memorial United Church in Canmore there will be no in-person Christmas services this year. There hasn’t been an in-person service since the spring.

“We needed to make a decision like everyone else,” Rev. Greg Wooley said. “March the 15th was the last time that we had in-person worship on a Sunday in the church. And so yeah, we did need to sort of look at ourselves and say, ‘well, we’ve thought of getting online, how are we going to do that?' ”

Previous job experience helped with the transition.

“Fortunately for me, and I guess fortunately for us,” Rev. Wooley said, “before I was minister here I was out of ministry for a dozen years, and in that job, I developed skills around just making simple movies in Movie Maker and stuff like that.”

The church moved online within three days and didn’t miss a Sunday. The congregation has also made a smooth transition to the new reality.

“I think we’re fortunate in that for 20 years now we’ve had two services,” Rev. Wooley said. “One that’s on the Sunday morning and one that’s on the Wednesday night. And we made two different decisions with that, the Wednesday night folks moved very quickly to being on Zoom.

“So, people had the two different kinds of experiences. If they wanted something that looked much more like Sunday morning and still had hymns and a choir anthem and a sermon and prayers and stuff, hey, go to YouTube, you will see the familiar people, each recording in their own homes.”

Alternatively, Wednesday nights have proven more interactive with a lay led service on a different online platform.

For Christmas this year, there will be The Longest Night service on Dec. 21, and a Christmas Eve service on Dec. 24. Both will be available on the Ralph Connor Canmore YouTube channel.

At the Shrine Church of Our Lady of the Rockies in Canmore, mass will be held in person this year.

“We are grateful we can have Christmas Masses even at 15 per cent capacity,” Fr. Nathan Siray said in an email. “This will mean we can have around 60 people at each celebration as our church can usually sit around 425 people.”

Anyone who wants to attend one of the seven Christmas Masses scheduled for Dec. 24 and 25 are required to register online on the parish website, and strict COVID protocols will be enforced.

“Once you enter the church you will have to sanitize your hands, wear a mask for the entire service, sit in designated pews to assure there is two metres between each household, and while there will be no congregational singing of favourite Christmas hymns, we are allowed to have one cantor sing [while masked] a few Christmas favourites,” Fr. Siray said.  

Walk-ins for mass will not be permitted, and volunteers will be on hand to usher people to their designated pews, and to sanitize surfaces after every service.

“While Christmas at our church and around the world will feel very strange and restrictive this year,” Fr. Siray said. “I am reminded that at the first Christmas, Jesus' parents were obliged to obey the orders of the governing authority of the day in going to Bethlehem to have their family enrolled in the Roman census and thus baby Jesus was born in a manger.

“So too at Our Lady of the Rockies we will comply with the provincial restrictions now in place for public worship to assure we celebrate Christmas in a safe and considerate manner.” 

This year St. Michael's Anglican Church in Canmore and St. George's-in-the-Pines Anglican Church in Banff will be working together to deliver services via livestream.

“I’m doing some of the parts at St. Michael’s,” Rev. Howard Thornton said, “and my very good friend and colleague [Rev.] Seth Enriquez is doing the parts from St. George’s in the Pines in Banff.”

The Rev. Richard LeSueur will also be part of the four services spread out over Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.

“We’re taking turns on who’s going to preach at each one of those services and who’s going to lead holy communion at each one of those services and that sort of thing,” Rev. Thornton said, “so everybody has a role to play.

“But like I say, it really is coming from both churches cooperating with one another and working this through together.”

The churches are also attempting to add an extra dimension to the virtual experience.

“We’re trying something we’ve never done before,” Rev. Thornton said. “We’ve got little tiny bottles of wine and bread, and we’re going to consecrate the wine and the bread and then we’re going to give them to anybody who wants to attend the service and receive holy communion at that same service.”

Anyone interested in holy communion is encouraged to pre-register via email at [email protected] or [email protected].

While Christmas this year may not look the same as it has in the past, there is cause for hope and optimism.     

“I’m just adding this because it means a lot to me,” Rev. Thornton said. “So, none of my children live here with me in Canmore. They’re all grown, and they live in other places, and I’m really sad because they’re not able to come home for Christmas.”

The Reverend has five children, who will be attending one of the church services, and on Christmas morning the families will be getting together to open presents together online.

“That means a lot to me,” Rev. Thornton said. “That even if I can’t be with them in person, we’re still able to share in some way, and I’m just wanting to encourage people, maybe, that they might find some hope and some happiness at Christmas if they can’t be with their children in person.

“That they could share something together like the church service, and like the next day opening some presents together, because we’re so fortunate to have this amazing technology to be able to do that.”

Please visit ralphconnor.ca, rockiesparish.com, stmichaelscanmore.com or stgeorgesinthepines.com for more information on the Christmas services being held in the Bow Valley this year.

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