Steinbach-area church called out for in-person service

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This article was published 22/11/2020 (1495 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Steinbach’s mayor has chastised a local church for flouting the COVID-19 code-red lockdown in an area with a 40 per cent test positivity rate.

Dozens of people attended a Sunday morning service at Church of God Restoration, 15 kilometres south of Steinbach in the Rural Municipality of Hanover. Under provincial health restrictions, churches are supposed to hold online services only.

Members of its congregation also took part in an anti-mask rally in Steinbach on Nov. 14.

Mayor Earl Funk said the congregation should not have gathered Sunday. The Southern Health region has the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases in the province, after Winnipeg.

“(Public health is) not trying to take our freedoms away. They’re trying to keep us safe,” Funk said Monday.

“I understand their desire to want to meet, but the provincial rules are in place and it is a short time. Twenty-three other churches (in Steinbach) have signed an open letter supporting local health-care workers and they are in solidarity with our province and the restrictions,” the mayor said.

“They are doing their best to follow the restrictions. They are doing services as best they can through video, telephone call or zoom meetings. The sooner we follow (the rules) the quicker we can gather again. The people of Steinbach are doing everything they can to stop the growth of COVID numbers.”

In a news release issued Monday night, Church of God pastor Heinrich Hildebrandt challenged what the province has deemed “essential” under recent public health orders.

“If faith and the communal expression of faith is not essential during times of crisis, is this an attack on faith? We are not asking for special treatment, just equal treatment,” he said, questioning the logic of allowing big-box retailers and liquor and cannabis stores to stay open and allow public interaction.

“Yet, it is our faith community that is singled out for public criticism, media attention, and visits by the RCMP, Manitoba Public Health and local bylaw enforcement.”

RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Julie Courchaine confirmed officers with the Steinbach detachment went to the Hanover church Sunday at 8:35 a.m., after receiving a report a service was being held in violation of public health orders.

“Officers attended and spoke with a church representative,” Courchaine said.

“It is believed there were well over 100 people inside the church, and the officers had to balance police and public safety when determining a response. Any time there is a large crowd, we have to take into account the safety of everyone, including our officers, and these concerns are also heightened with the addition of COVID-19.”

Later Monday, a video was posted on YouTube showing RCMP officers and health officials issuing Church of God Restoration minister Tobias Tissen two $1,296 tickets for failing to comply with a public health emergency order.

The church’s stance remains the same after the police visit.

“The Bible teaches Christians to be good citizens and obey the reasonable demands of our government. It does, not however, teach blind obedience to the authorities when onerous restrictions are placed on our freedoms,” Hildebrandt said.

“We are grateful to our law enforcement officers for their dedication to public service, especially during this crisis. We urge them to continue resisting the enforcement of draconian and unconstitutional orders.”

On Monday, Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, announced more than 540 new cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba, the highest daily case count of the pandemic.

Southern Health logged 118 new cases, and two pandemic deaths.

“Enforcement is important, especially where we are right now,” Roussin said. “We have very restricted orders and are at a very critical moment in this pandemic.

“We had reports of a number of faith-based organizations still holding services over the weekend in person. It should be quite clear these orders are not here to restrict your right to worship,” he said. “These orders are here to save lives.”

Roussin said if everyone follows the rules, the case count will go down faster and restrictions will ease.

“We can’t have in-person gatherings right now, not with the positivity rates we are seeing… They put the community at large at risk. They put our health-care workers at risk.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca