Kitchener, Ont. church swaps Sunday service with showing of Canada-U.S. gold medal game

A Kitchener church turned Sunday service into a gold medal watch party as Canada faced the United States in an Olympic showdown. CTV's Hannah Schmidt reports.

Canada’s men’s hockey team may have lost the fight for their Olympic Holy Grail, but a Kitchener, Ont. congregation kept the faith until the very end.

Nexus Church swapped its Sunday service with a showing of the gold medal game between Canada and the United States.

“My sermon was ready to go, but it can wait,” Pastor Brad Watson said in a post online to the congregation earlier this week. “There are more important fish to fry this Sunday. The Olympic gold medal hockey game is happening Sunday morning, so we’re swapping our normal service for a Nexus Watch Party.”

The event was hosted at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. Dozens of people sat at the edge of their seats, donning red and white jerseys over top of their Sunday best.

“Rather than competing with the gold medal game, we thought, why not just get together and we’ll watch it together?” Watson told CTV News on Sunday.

“We’re well aware that the teams would be in competition with each other and that probably three quarters of our community, including our pastor, wouldn’t show up [to service],” said the church’s logistics coordinator, Sarah Holmes.

“So, it was a situation where we thought rather than having to choose between the two, we’ll just have to watch party instead,” Holmes added. “Everybody was quite happy to hear that we were doing this instead of our regular service.”

Those who came to watch were invited to bring their own breakfast and enjoy a cup of coffee on the house.

“It’s the kind of thing where everybody in the country is on board and watching and on the same page, so that part makes it exciting,” Holmes said.

“We are just more of a community than anything. So, not surprised that something that’s so much about the community,” congregate Pam Hillis said.

Tensions ran high as the arch-rivals headed into overtime with a tie of 1-1. Then, Team U.S.A.’s Jack Hughes sealed the win, beating Team Canada 2-1 to close the men’s hockey at The Winter Olympics.

While the U.S. came out on top, pastor Watson said the shared community experience mattered more than the final score.

“We did this back in 2014 ... we’re a tight community. And we don’t mind doing things a little untraditional now and then,” he said.

“There are a lot of really huge hockey fans, and this is a very important morning for sports,” Holmes added.

Watson said next week, the sermon returns. But Sunday’s lesson was about showing up, supporting one another and staying united.

“We love our hockey. It doesn’t matter whether it’s 7 a.m. or 7 p.m. We’ll be there, ready to tune in and cheer on our team,” Watson said.

The local congregation says faith, like hockey, can bring the community together - win or lose.

“It’s just such a calm place to come. And this is a fantastic way to share Canada’s history,” said congregate Kathy Clemens.