But after the relaxation of restrictions on religious gatherings towards the end of last year, people have been able to return back to church.

However, even though parishioners have been able to return to church, it's been a gradual process for attendance numbers to return to their pre-pandemic state.

Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Bathurst, Michael McKenna, said many churches in the region have returned to their original numbers.

"It's roughly getting back, at least in Bathurst, to the pre-COVID numbers," he said.

"There are a few people who are older or have health issues that haven't been ready to come out again but mostly people have coming back.

"Of course, we're still on restrictions on numbers, according to the size of the building. Roughly speaking in Bathurst, we've been doing alright."

The Anglican Diocese of Bathurst has had mixed numbers at churches, with some returning to pre-coronavirus numbers, while some haven't according to Bishop Mark Calder.

"In some places, we're back to pre-COVID numbers and in others, they're still rebuilding," he said.

"It will be a gradual process of rebuilding numbers but it will be slower than what people expected."

Bishop Calder believes streamed services have been a positive to reach people that might have not previously been able to attend church.

"It's probably reaching people who can't make it to church, not because of COVID, but because they're incapacitated," he said.

Bathurst Presbyterian Church currently has three services, at 10am, 3pm and 6pm, however, due to near capacity numbers, it is looking at introducing a fourth service according to Pastor Tristan Merkel.

"Not only do we want all fit into a church on a Sunday ourselves, we want to have room to invite and welcome anyone and everyone. So at the moment we are thinking through how to do that," he said.

"Our live streams have been easy for us to share with our friends and families, to give them a taste of church. So they have been an extra tool we can use to invite people to discover Jesus."

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