Crowds flock to church

Churches and places of worship across WA reopened their doors on the weekend after closing to faith communities in March.

Dardanup Parish priest Father Wayne Bendotti said the weekend went considerably well.

“There was a fair bit to do to prepare for the church service, but fortunately the Government made it quite easy to follow and adhere to,” he said. “People are very understanding and happy to be back.

Father Wayne said on a normal weekend the Dardanup parish packed in about 90 church-goers.

“Considering it was our first weekend back we had a pretty good turnout which saw around 75 people attend services over the weekend,” Mr Bendotti said.

“I wasn’t expecting attendance to jump straight back to regular numbers as I know some of the older people are continuing to stay away from communal gatherings at the moment.”

Over the past few months Father Wayne has been conducting his church services online.

“For me it was just so nice to be back in the church and to look out and actually see people rather than look at the computer screen,” he said.

“It was a lovely atmosphere, everyone was so grateful to be back.”

Over at Bunbury’s Orthodox Church, about 30 people attended mass on Sunday.

“We can’t fit 100 people in our church so we were happy with the turnout,” Father John Sullivan said.

“Everybody was so joyous, you could see it in their faces.

“The clergy missed holding services and are very glad to be back.”