Dear editor:

Are our churches here in Niagara-on-the-Lake unimportant? Apparently, the town thinks so.

In the town’s just-published Community Guide you can read in detail the information about the Dickens Fellowship, the Newcomers Club and a host of other activities in town – but if you want to check out NOTL’s churches, you’d better be able to read a QR code because that’s all you see under the heading of Religious Activities on page 26.  

Greeting card making, mah jong and William Shakespeare Revisited are described in full on Page 26 for the reader’s easy access.

Look at the page – last and apparently least is our town’s Religious Activities – just a QR code.

I alerted our church’s leader and their reaction was outrage: That’s no good! Some people don’t have smartphones. Our congregation is made up of seniors and some do not want anything to do with computers or smartphones. It shows the community we are less important than everyone else.

So, maybe that’s how our town and our council really feel. The only other QR codes in the entire magazine are for maps of paid parking (page 18) and a park locator (page 20).

Does our town (and its employees) really care about its churches and the new residents who may want to find a church?

Perhaps we will find out if they apologize to our local congregations and commit to treating our churches in future issues as a fully recognized and vibrant part of our community.

Or will they just say, “Too bad – we didn’t plan and we ran out of page space”?

John Sayers
NOTL