Hawzah News Agency - (Toronto - Canada) - Just like retail, colleges and yoga instructors, religious leaders have gone online during the pandemic with live-streamed services.

But starting this weekend in Ontario, churches, synagogues and mosques are allowed to hold drive-in services.

Roger Berg, executive associate pastor of Church on the Queensway, says they've been live streaming since in-person services were put on hold in late March. But with a parking lot designed for 900 cars, he says it made sense to roll out a drive-in service.

A two-metre space will be left around each parked vehicle. And while service will be held at the usual times, they'll only be 45 minutes long.

"No one's allowed to leave their vehicle. And they can't come to use the washroom, so it'll be a short service," Berg told CBC Toronto.

The church's senior pastor will deliver his message standing on the roof of the educational wing of the building at 1536 The Queensway. He says the drive-in service will be in addition to the weekly live-streamed offering, which has been very popular with worshippers.

But Berg says his congregation needs something more.

"Where there is a real problem is the fact that they can't connect to one another; they feel isolated," he said.

"They are used to a gathering of two to three thousand people in the building and they have the opportunity to see one another," Berg added.

"Even though they can't get out of their cars they can wave to one another in their vehicles and it's a change of scenery."