Community church adapts in lockdown
Churches in regional Victoria were advised on Sunday of the easing of restrictions, but buildings look likely to have restricted access for the foreseeable future.
From midnight tonight religious gatherings are permitted to host a group of 20 people plus a faith leader indoors and 50 people plus a faith leader outdoors, but Warragul Community Church senior pastor Danny Holmes said he feels churches may be the last to return to full capacity.
The church has been live casting their Sunday sermons to the congregation since lockdown began, but with a limit of just five people being allowed inside for much of the lockdown, they had to adapt.
“You need three people already to run the live cast, so we really only had the MC and preacher there, but it has been working okay,” he said.
Instead, they have been recording music during the week to complement the live sermons on Sunday to complete the service.
Danny said almost 60 per cent of those who attend CCW attend life groups and almost half are still meeting in small communities and touching base now restrictions in public settings have been relaxed.
Danny and his pastoral team have been in regular contact with many in their congregation, providing support in different ways including phone calls and going for walks.
The church also runs a café on site and while they have only just reopened to the public, over the lockdown they continued to support those who needed it most.
They provided take home meals for families through online ordering. The support service also included an option to feed a friend or someone you in need to help spread inclusion and generosity.
Danny described the time navigating the lockdown without a building as like learning to play chess without the queen, still looking after and loving one another as much as possible.
He also added that he was looking forward to the church community returning whenever that may be.
“Normally I would shake 300 hands on Sunday morning welcoming, there’s nothing like that kind of community and I’m missing that and it may be a long time before that happens, but we’ve learned a lot as well,” he said.
Danny added that they will continue with live streams once services on site resume, seeing many who cannot make the Sunday service tuning in online.
For more information you can visit the Community Church Warragul Facebook page or website at https://www.ccw.org.au/