It was inevitable, I suppose, and the Marda Loop Church in Calgary has the distinction of being the first: it has decided to refuse entrance to those who have not been vaccinated or who cannot provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test.

The church’s vision statement claims that the church exists “to help [vaccinated] people Engage God Everywhere“  and that it “will be a church where [vaccinated] people who don’t go to church feel at home.”

All this is being done in the name of science and to protect the vulnerable – even though there is increasing evidence that the vaccinated can be just as infections as the unvaccinated. Still, Jesus did say “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden and vaccinated, and I will give you rest”, so pastor John van Sloten must be on to something.

From what I can see, this is a new church. As an experiment in exclusion, I wonder how it will fare.

Read more about it here:

Taking in the ever-evolving news on vaccine passports this past month, I kept wondering why nobody ever mentioned churches. If gyms, bars, entertainment venues and places of work merited strict vaccination policies, why not places of faith?

Given the nature of churches — places where children and adults closely intermingle, where seniors and the immunocompromised regularly gather, where diverse groups share food, sing together, and meet in often small, old, poorly ventilated buildings — wouldn’t a mandatory vaccination policy make sense? Wouldn’t it be the Christian thing to do?

And yet, I’ve haven’t heard of any churches making this call. Which makes it hard to be the first.

This week, our church leadership team decided that when our church opens for live gatherings next month, all attendees 12 and older will need to be fully vaccinated.

Even though it’s a temporary measure, and there will be online alternatives, and unvaccinated people will still be able to attend with proof of a recent negative COVID test, it still feels wrong. Churches  should never turn people away, should they?

Yet we do. The moment we accommodate the unvaccinated we alienate those who want to shield their unvaccinated children, immunocompromised individuals who are still vulnerable to breakthrough infections, and anyone else who’d rather avoid the risk.

Either way we make a choice. So, our little faith community has decided to side with the majority of civic-minded, science-trusting Calgarians for practical and theological reasons.

Practically, more than 76 per cent of Albertans 12 and up have received at least one dose of vaccine. Clearly most Albertans trust the science. We want to honour their choice and make our space as hospitable and safe for them as possible.

Theologically, the argument is stronger. To be a Christian is to model one’s life after Christ. Jesus always put others first. He gave up his individual rights for the common good and sacrificed for the sake of the weak. He loved others as he loved himself and would have surely done anything to best protect the unvaccinated children in his neighbourhood. A Christian ethic always puts the vulnerable first.

A Christian worldview, historically, has also been very pro-science. Shouldn’t Christians be first in line when it comes to celebrating God’s good gifts of vaccines? There is a direct line connecting Jesus’ first century call to heal the sick to the hospitals that fill our cities today. Western health care started in early churches and monasteries, as did the movement that would lead to modern universities (and their capacity to do scientific research). For 2000 years, the spirit of Christ has been growing humanity’s capacity to understand the biology of the human body — so that we can better care for it.