St. John's Church at Masthugget is well visited during the winter.
Especially during Christmas when many are not only looking for something to eat but also a community to celebrate Christmas with.
But during the pandemic, the City Mission's work has been hampered, not least by restrictions that prevent it from filling the premises.
- An ordinary Christmas, we can receive 500 guests on a Christmas day.
This year we stay below a hundred.
We must instead ensure that you can wash your hands, keep your distance and sit sparsely, says Johanna Azar, unit manager at Gothenburg City Mission.
Does not require vaccine proof
On Christmas Eve, the queue outside St. John's Church stretched long.
Volunteers were then ready outside the church with mulled wine and gingerbread to keep the heat and atmosphere up.
The church may actually receive up to 500 guests, if a valid vaccine certificate is required.
But still you choose not to do so.
- We in society can not arrange a vaccination certificate if you do not have a social security number and accounting address.
Many of our guests do not have it.
Then we also have guests who have not yet been vaccinated.
We do not want to exclude anyone on Christmas Eve itself, but we think it is important that everyone can get into the heat, says Johanna Azar.
Even on the second day, the church was well attended. See more in the clip above.