Well here we are again – in a place I am sure none of us wanted to revisit. Lockdown 2. Banned once more from corporate worship and physical contact with others, although this time schools remain open, which I’m sure is a relief to many hard-pressed parents!
Just as our Easter celebrations were badly impacted by the first lockdown, so our remembrance services have had to be cancelled and moved on-line. I hope you will have the opportunity to watch our short service that Rev Bob and myself have published to the website and social media for this Sunday, and we will be continuing to develop our on-line presence and services over the course of the next month.
I’m sure you will have seen that some church leaders have petitioned the government to make corporate worship an exception from the lockdown restrictions, but I have to tell you that I do not share that view. While I understand completely how hard it is for us not to be able to gather together, we have been living under quite severe restrictions for some time now, which includes masks, communion in one kind only, and no singing, and to allow us to continue to meet as an exception to lockdown, while so many others face separation from loved ones, just does not seem right to me.
We worship an incarnate God who is present with us and among us, not just within our buildings, and I am convinced that he is working out his purposes among us even in these difficult days. So as Bishop Christopher reminded us in his latest broadcast, we hold on to the light of God in the darkness, and through the churches call to prayer particularly at this time, are reminded of his constant presence with us however dark the days may seem.
