As restrictions ease, Andy looks to the future and asks questions about our vision
At our PCC meeting in March, we were trying to work out the best ways to ‘open up’ our church for worship and other activities in the time before all regulations are off – although as yet we have not been told that we are able to sing again in church after 21 June!
Easter services and after Easter
We agreed to open church for Easter for ‘in person’ services on Wednesday in Holy week, Good Friday evening, and Easter Sunday morning; along with a trail in the church grounds on Good Friday morning.
After Easter we will start back again with a Midweek Holy Communion on Wednesdays at 9.30 am. Also, on Sundays we will bring into being ‘Watch and Worship Together PLUS!’ The ‘plus’ is that the service will be generally led from the front, including ‘in person’ parts where possible. Music will not be ‘live’ as yet, but hopefully those doing readings, prayers, and sermons in the online services – which will continue as usual for the foreseeable future – will also be available where possible to make their contribution ‘in person’ at church. This will make the ‘Watch and Worship Together’ more participative and a communal event, hence the PLUS!
Preparations for 21 June
According to Boris’s roadmap, almost all regulations will be lifted on 21 June, and in PCC we discussed if there are things we should be doing now to prepare for this situation. We would encourage all group leaders to think about the following questions:
- Has anything changed as a result of the pandemic that effects what we should be doing in the future?
- What resources do we need to achieve these new objectives?
- How do we find the resources required to meet the new objectives?
And finally …
As your church leader, who has guided you through the most traumatic events that any church family will have experienced in our lifetime, thank you for your continuing help and support in contributing to our church life in lots of different ways.
Now we need to look to the future, and I will be asking questions for us all. The most important is, ‘What is our vision as a church in the light of all that we have experienced?’ Please be fervent in prayer as we answer this question together in the months ahead.
God bless,
Andy McPherson, vicar
