Vicar hits out at moves to halt worship
A HYNDBURN vicar has criticised efforts to stop communal prayer and worship during the latest coronavirus lockdown.
Lancashire’s public health leaders wrote a joint letter to all faith communities last week - saying the NHS in Lancashire is “under enormous strain” and argue there are “significant infection risks” to people socialising before and after worship.
The call to stop worship is contrary to the new rules announced by the government which permit places of worship, including churches, synagogues, mosques, gurdwaras, temples and meeting rooms, to stay open for individual prayer and congregational worship throughout the new nationwide shutdown.
Hyndburn council leader Coun Miles Parkinson OBE said he “fully” supported the plea - published by Lancashire Resilience Forum (LRF) to our faith communities to pause communal worship.
“Doing so will help control the spread of coronavirus and potentially save lives,” he said. “I am encouraging all faith leaders in Hyndburn to take action.”
However, a Rishton vicar said places of worship offered “a glimmer of hope.
Fr Christopher Holden said his church St Peter and St Paul’s can comfortably accommodate up to 50 worshippers with safe social distancing in place, and other precautions include a register of attendees, keeping services short, sanitation and a full risk assessment.
Fr Chris told the Observer the request had put religious leaders in “a difficult position”, adding: “Either I follow their request or [stay open] in a safe manner and give people some glimmer of hope in dark and depressing days. I cannot speak for other places of worship, but we have a building that can seat roughly 300 people. I’m lucky that I’ve got a large building. It’s actually safer to come to worship - in our context, at least - than it is to go to supermarkets are other outlets that are open. It was right of the government to allow that discretion. It’s a little bit annoying that we then get pressure from elsewhere.”
Since the start of the pandemic the Rishton church has operated a food bank, and stayed open every day they have been allowed to from 9am to 6pm - as a place of quiet reflection. Its Friday community cafe has been adapted to a takeaway service.
Fr Chris added: “My contact with the parish and the food bank has made me realise how important the church community is for not only spiritual wellbeing, but mental health as well. In the first lockdown we followed that to the letter, but when we announced it a second time the utter dread and fear on some of the faces of my congregation was really quite heart rending for me as a parish priest.”
Rishton Labour councillor and churchgoer Kate Walsh said she “completely understood” the position of the LRF, but felt the overall guidance was “confusing”.
She said: “The government should be clarifying this. Why is it too dangerous to meet to pray together while maintaining strict social distancing rules, yet it is safe for early years to continue to open for children of non key workers?”
Last November, the Lancashire Council of Mosques co-signed a letter to the Prime Minister expressing “deep concern” in regards to the impact of the proposed restrictions during the second lockdown.