During a time when many congregations in southern Manitoba are trying to be creative in making sure their members stay connected, still healthy and following the public health orders, Elim Mennonite in Grunthal has looked at their numbers and have decided to offer their Sunday morning service to fully vaccinated people only.

Norm Voth, Transitional Interim Pastor says, opening their doors to only 25 attendees on Sunday mornings left many of their members without personal contact.

“There were a number of people in our congregation that didn’t come, either because they wanted others to be able to attend a worship service or because they simply have mobility issues or concerns about being in a mixed audience where there are both vaccinated and unvaccinated people.”

“We're looking to the congregation for discernment and wisdom on this."

Voth continues, “So with the option of having larger gatherings for vaccinated participants, we decided that we were going to try having a service where we required proof of vaccination for people to attend, as a way of trying to have larger gatherings but also, that it might be a way of providing a safe place for people to worship that had before not felt safe enough in an open gathering.”

The Interim Pastor says, they had mixed responses to their first vaxxed-only service last weekend.

“We've had some affirmation. We had some people attend that hadn't attended since the beginning of the pandemic, or at least for months already because they didn't feel completely safe. But we also had some disappointments expressed, mostly that we were now excluding other people that had been previously able to attend.”

“There's something about gathering in person that's preferable to most people.” Voth says, “During the past couple of months, we heard from our members, that there was an increasing sense of isolation and loneliness. For some, it was because they didn’t have access to technology. For others that the technology simply does not meet their needs for a spiritual and emotional support community.”

Voth says, most of the Elim Church congregation are vaccinated, that said, they are always looking for ways to include people that are feeling excluded. “We are asking the congregation, both those who are supportive and those who are disappointed, to suggest alternatives as to how we might manage this in ways that can be more inclusive. We are also continually inviting people to prayer and a commitment to maintaining the unity of the congregation. We are open to having discussions in-person or through emails, letters, zoom meetings and that kind of thing.”

“We hold this decision lightly. It is not unanimous in our congregation."

He affirms, “We hold this decision lightly. It is not unanimous in our congregation. There is division on it. But we want to be open to making adjustments as is necessary for whatever reason.”

Voth clarifies the reason Elim has gone to a single Sunday morning service for vaccinated people only: “I mean for us, it's a way of trying to address people’s isolation and loneliness. And because we are a congregation with a high percentage of seniors and elders, it's a way for us to try and meet the needs of as many people as we can. Then find ways to continue to minister and engage people who, by virtue of our decisions, may be excluded from worship. Or maybe we can offer some kind of alternatives.”

He concludes, “We're looking to the congregation for discernment and wisdom on this. That they would be able to adjust and continue to find ways to again maintain the unity of our congregation. We don't want to allow this to disintegrate us and fracture our relationships.”

“We feel like adhering to the public health orders is a fulfillment of the commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves. If we take care of ourselves, including vaccinations, the mask-wearing, the social distancing, then we are caring for others.”

Voth says they are still offering online services and will continue to offer this no matter what the restrictions are.

---

Written by Adi Loewen.