Love Ottawa hosts interdenominational virtual service to mourn those lost due to COVID-19

Elizabeth Mabie
Spur Ottawa Writer

To help console those grieving loved ones lost due to COVID-19, Love Ottawa organized an interdenominational reflectional service. Organizers invited believers to gather virtually, drawing near to God and each other for comfort.

“Keep Hope Alive” took place on March 13 at 4:00 p.m. The hour-long service was broadcast over Zoom from inside the Ottawa Seventh-day Adventist Church. Organizers and volunteers provided the audience with scripture readings, prayers, poetry, music, and a passionate message from Jeremiah 29:7-14.

“We are in something here that we’ve never experienced before,” says Robert Greaves, Senior Pastor at the Ottawa Seventh-day Adventist Church. “The only way we will make it through this, as a community of faith, is if we come together, support each other, hold on to God’s hand, and allow Him to lead us in these situations.”

“Keep Hope Alive” came out of a weekly pastors’ prayer Zoom meeting Love Ottawa hosts. The call enables pastors from various churches to regularly check in and pray for one another. The topics of mental health and funerals came up, and how the ban on large gatherings prevented people from properly mourning their loved ones since the start of the pandemic.

“We all have people in our churches who have lost a loved one either to COVID or to other circumstances during this crisis.”

In the summer, a number of the pastors on the call had discussed holding a similar in-person event to commemorate the six-month anniversary since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global pandemic. However, provincial laws did not allow for such an in-person meeting. The group instead held a city-wide day of prayer on September 13.

With the one-year anniversary approaching, participants decided to hold an event for local believers.

“We asked ourselves if we should be doing something that’s more outward facing,” explains Richard Long, Director of Love Ottawa. “We all have people in our churches who have lost a loved one either to COVID or to other circumstances during this crisis.”

Long highlights that supportive outreach for those grieving has not gone far beyond private funerals and congregational condolences. So, Love Ottawa and a group of pastors decided to invite their church families to gather virtually for comfort, hope, and in unity under God’s eternal love and compassion.

“God is an ever-present help in times of trouble,” states Greaves. “Everything that was said through this service gave me that firm reassurance.”

Members of Greaves’ church called him after the event to share how blessed they felt after watching the service. This was exactly what they needed, they said, especially since the congregation is still mourning the loss of a member who just passed away after contracting COVID-19. The mutual emotions and the encouraging messages brought together a community of faithful servants who will hopefully be able to support each other in person again, one day.

“There was a very powerful sense of God’s presence,” says Long. “God commands His blessing upon unity and we definitely sensed how powerful it felt through this experience.”