MESSAGE OF HOPE AS CHURCHES AVOID LOCKDOWN
THE Bishop of Exeter has welcomed the Government’s decision to allow church buildings to stay open during this current lockdown.
Under the latest Government guidance, churches are permitted to open for communal worship and private prayer and people are allowed to leave home to attend church.
Funerals and weddings can also take place in church buildings, although weddings can only happen in exceptional circumstances.
The Right Rev Robert Atwell said: “The fact that in this third national lockdown the Government is permitting church buildings to remain open both for private prayer and for communal worship is a tribute to how effectively clergy and lay leaders have risen to the challenge of arresting the spread of this disease.
“It is also a recognition by the Government of how significant our buildings are in the life of their communities for people’s mental health and well-being. They are holy ground where we learn ‘how to be human’.”
Although church buildings can stay open for worship and prayer they do not have to.
The Church of England said it would be up to individual members of the clergy and their parochial church councils to carry out a fresh risk assessment in each parish and decide the wisest course of action based on their own local context.
Bishop Robert (above) said he would support whatever decisions were made locally. A number of churches in Devon already broadcast livestreamed or recorded services online, or hold regular services using conferencing software like Zoom.
Some churches in the county are likely to offer online-only services at the moment, while others will offer a mixture of both online and in church.
Writing in his Epiphany message to clergy in Devon, Bishop Robert said he was not complacent abut the risks from the virus: “This pandemic continues to mete out painful lessons about our mortality and vulnerability, but as we face another national lockdown it is also teaching us lessons about neighbourliness and community.
“Community is society with a human face. It a place of belonging, the place where we learn ‘how to be human’ and discover that we are not alone. At its best, the Church of England is a great community-building institution.
“We have a lot of experience to bring to the table as our communities cope with this lockdown and, in spite of the grim litany of statistics flooding social media and our television screens, this should give us confidence and hope.”