Learning to crawl before we walk would be a good description of bringing church buildings into use for private prayer, said worship, small weddings, and small funerals. Each place is different, and the people involved are finding the right pace to work through risk assessments, sorting out Covid 19 etiquette, and publicity. Some have misunderstood national media and assume that all church buildings are open and we can carry on as if there was no pandemic ~ that is definitely not the case.
Our Funeral Directors do a grand job helping families with small scale thanksgiving services. At the moment 10 is still the maximum attendance, although any number can watch online. It's great to see that Sam Wilding has been included in the Thank You painted on the side of a Portland van.
The Lay Worship Leaders [LWL] course has started online with nearly 20 taking part. There are two [Gloucester and Cheshire] who have local connections but are having to live away.
Getting Church Rooms, and Community Rooms open is a different challenge to hosting private prayer or said worship. The principle is taking a slow steady space so people feel welcome and safe. Mid July flags up Covid 19 infections as 6 in a 1,000; we cannot be complacent. Signage and risk assessments are coming on nicely.
