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Faith is something we are all told to keep within our minds and our souls since our early ages of living.

Celebrating religion and God is something that many people of Newfoundland and Labrador enjoy. Sharing your beliefs and your faith is one of the ways people use to connect. 

Deep Faith in God

Due to the recent outbreak of COVID-19 and other variants, celebrating our faith or even sharing it, has become more difficult. 

“When the Church went into lockdown, it felt as if the world we lived in had come to an end,” said Ellen Picco, a frequent church goer. “We could not receive the sacraments and it felt as if we were living in a world without direction.” 

Picco goes on to say how her deep faith in God helped her believe that we would one day see the end of this pandemic. 

Grow Stronger

At first, it wasn’t easy. For strong believers in faith and God, the church serves the people of its community in a way that no other could. The Church helps to prepare people for the blessings of God throughout their lives. Attending service, in Picco’s eyes, is a way for people’s faith to grow even stronger. 

“The Roman Catholic Espocoial Corporation (RCEC) had become connected to its parishioners via social media and individuals have discovered various channels to receive the sacraments spiritually,” said Picco. “While it’s not the same as receiving the sacrament in person, for those of deep faith it’s the next best thing.” 

When churches did briefly re-open this past July, many parishioners did not feel safe in returning to church. They felt that with certain changes due to masks, that the true meaning was not there. 

Despite this Picco has kept her faith and believes through prayer we can get through these times of uncertainty. 

“I believe that we as Christians need to have a strong faith that will help us to stay positive in these times of fear,” said Picco. “It is faith that enables us to believe and to pray to God daily for protection not only for ourselves and our families but for those throughout the world. Faith is the one true gift from God that will lead us to an everlasting life of love.”

Nothing is Lost

Tim Lane is the lead pastor of True Life Church. True Life is a non-denominational church, meaning any type of religion is welcomed in their community. Lane says he sees people who are Christian, Pentecostal, Anglican, and even people with Salvation Army backgrounds. 

Lane says he was raised in the Church and beginning True Life was a no-brainer. He claims it to be his calling. 

“My father was a pastor,” said Lane. “It always felt right. I wanted to reach out to the people of St. John’s and build a new community around faith.”

Despite these hard times, Lane believes that just because we can’t all be together in one building celebrating faith there is no reason it should be lost. He says he has seen lots of new faces trying to find hope. 

Although he doesn’t believe God could create a pandemic like this, Lane believes the Lord is using it to his advantage. 

“People got forced to stop living life as normal, and with that, I think a lot of people started to look within,” said Lane. “The struggle has become more real for people and I think God is using this pandemic to show people that they need him.”

The most important thing to Lane is faith and keeping it. He says if it wasn’t for his close relationship with God, that he would have no hope himself. 

During these times, he believes that people should be acting as the Church and doing their part to spread their faith in the best way they can. 

Celebrate in one Place

“The best way we can celebrate our faith now is to reach out and help others,” said Lane. 

“Physically you can’t do it but you can certainly give someone a call, encourage them, or check in on them. There are a lot of lonely people out there and sometimes the Sunday morning service is the only connection that they got.”

Lane hopes the Church will be able to reopen soon and that everyone can be together celebrating in one place. Until that day he hopes people will spread the word of God and share their faith among others. 

“Without my relationship with God, I don’t know how I would make it through this,” said Lane.