SUNDRE - Despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, a local pastor sees a chance for not only the community, but also the whole country, to emerge from the fallout even stronger than ever.
“It’s an opportunity to draw people together,” said McDougal Chapel pastor Kent Janz, who called the pandemic a “great equalizer.”
In the age of convenience consumer culture, Janz said many attitudes have shifted away from “we” to an obsession about “me,” although some people have re-evaluated their priorities towards more of a collective sense of shared responsibility.
“It’s our choice,” he said.
“In the long scope of things, this could be a very profitable thing for our nation and our community, if we choose to learn from it. There’s so much good that can come from this,” he said.
“We can’t lose that perspective — it’s faith or fear. You got to choose which you’re going to have,” he said.
Throughout the community, there are pockets of people working to help others, he said, citing numerous examples of volunteers and businesses that have stepped up to lend a hand.
“It’s truly amazing,” he said.
Joining the effort is Sundre and Area Ministerial, whose leaders are striving to offer physical and emotional support through a helpline people can reach by calling 403-636-0554, he said.
“As a ministerial, we’re all united in the simple fact that if there are needs in the community, we want to be the front lines to help meet those needs within the guidelines that are laid out for us.”
The ministerial also updated information that’s available online at sundreministerial.blogspot.com to provide accurate listings for the local churches as well as a couple of supports services, he said.
The helpline, he added, is also the same phone number for the McDougal Chapel’s Plus 1 food hamper service, which has been expanded to include accommodating anyone who needs to chat or who perhaps needs help getting supplies.
The ministerial, he said, has compiled a list of about a dozen volunteers in the community to help people, especially those who are self-isolating.
“If anybody needs anything delivered, I can give them a call. If somebody needs medication or needs some groceries, we can help.”
Furthermore, callers who require emotional support can be referred, he said.
“That’s what this phone service is about. It’s almost like a call centre…if somebody calls and wants to chat, I’ll chat with them, or I’ll refer them to someone else. If there’s a food need, then we’ll help them with the Plus 1 hampers. If there is a physical need, then we have a referral base of volunteers,” he said.
Leaders of the local churches have an existing history of meeting monthly to discuss potential plans, he said.
“We already have a good working relationship, and so this is just an expansion of that.”
They were compelled to act as part of their calling, he said.
“As ministers of the gospel, we’re called to be hands and feet to our neighbours,” he said.
“That’s one of the mandates that the Bible makes pretty clear. We’re just fulfilling our calling.”
On an historical sidenote, Janz said he also drew inspiration from ancient history.
“In 165 AD, so this is back in the Roman era—this is in the history books, not a biblical thing—but there is a pandemic that swept through the Roman Empire called the Antonine plague, and they say that a quarter of all Romans died,” he said.
According to historical records, the bulwark of people who provided help as far as taking care of the sick were Christians, he said.
“Why can’t we make a difference in this pandemic as well? It’s part of our calling as believers of Jesus, is that we make a difference in community,” he said.
“This isn’t the first time this has happened, and I think we as churches have a big part to play in how our community recovers.”
When asked how people can help the ministerial’s efforts, he said anyone who is able can donate food to local churches.
“That’s probably the biggest thing, because we want to make sure there’s always food available for people,” he said, adding they can also spread the word to raise awareness about the helpline.
Some residents who are in isolation might not even know the number exists, he said.
As of early last week, Janz said there had not been a noticeable change in the number of hampers distributed since the pandemic was declared, prompting widespread closures and cancellations.
“It’s still pretty consistent,” he said, adding one hamper is on average prepared every other day, or about 160 per year.
“It hasn’t increased at all, which I’m quite surprised,” he said.
“But maybe now is not the time — maybe it will happen later rather than sooner,” he said, adding the negative impacts of the economic ripple effects could take time to reverberate and be felt.
In the meantime, he said since the start of the pandemic procedures have been changed at the Plus 1 food hamper service to reflect government health and safety recommendations. Whereas people used to be allowed to peruse the shelves and pick their own items, volunteers now instead prepare the packages.
“We pre-make the hampers now, so they can just come to our door and we just give them the hamper so there’s more distancing that’s happening,” he said, adding organizers eventually want to return to the original approach.
“We’ll move back to that when we’re safe and clear,” he said.
“Part of what we want to do is develop relationships with people, and you don’t do that when you just give them a bag and say, ‘See you later!’”
While the shelves remained relatively well-stocked, the situation could potentially turn quickly, he said.
“That can change in literally a day. You get two hampers in a day, and next thing you know there’s not much left.”
Protocols to mitigate the potential risk of exposure to people have also been put in place in all the local churches, he said.
“This is a ministerial wide thing.”
Alternative measures, including providing teachings on a regular basis online, are being offered, he said.
Church leaders are also attempting to promote safety measures outlined by the government. Janz -- who on March 9 embarked on a brief trip to Phoenix -- was back home on March 15, three days after Alberta declared a state of emergency, and has since been in a period of self-imposed isolation. He reported feeling well, but looked forward to being able to return to his office.
“I’m just doing a lot of studying, making a lot of phone calls and texts,” he said, when asked how he was holding up.
“It just seems like there’s always something to do. I’ve been on the phone a lot with people.”
With doors at all of the churches closed, he said pastors’ thoughts are also with their congregations.
“All of our hearts are with our people. We can’t see them — it’s like having kids, except your kids are separated from you.”
While local church leaders are doing what they can to ensure people are doing well, Janz said they are also trusting their congregations to do some of that work.
“If we would all just check our neighbours and see how they’re doing, we’d be fine as a community.”
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