Where next? - for the Church and for the nation?

 

I’ve intentionally delayed bringing out the new issue of our Parish Magazine. It’s a double issue for July and August, so I wanted first to be able to record and celebrate Phil Carter’s Ordination to the priesthood - and then perhaps to be able to say something about how the Government’s plans for “opening up” after the pandemic restrictions might affect us in our churches and parishes.

We can certainly celebrate Phil’s Ordination! Inevitably it had to be lower-key than we might wish with far fewer people in attendance. But in a way this made it all the more intense. While in “normal” times there would be many hundreds of people in a packed Cathedral, this time only eight guests could be invited for each person to be ordained. And in place of a huge scrum of priests around each ordinand, the laying on of hands involved only the Bishop of Durham and the Training Incumbent - me! The grace of Orders conveyed by the Bishop - my responsibility for Phil’s formation and our collegiality as priests… Then the excitement of First Eucharists at which Phil presided.

But then - what next? People have looked forward to the end of the restrictions with which we have lived so long, but at the same time we know they are restrictions designed to keep us as safe as possible. Can we simply shed our face masks, resume our social activities and children’s work and Lunch Clubs, and sing heartily the hymns we have missed? I can’t give you an answer. Even if the Government declares all things possible, we will need to make a considered response, individuals will have their own reservations - and for some the freedoms of the many may lead them to restrict still more what they themselves do and where they go.

The Church of England’s “Worship Task Force” will be meeting on 14^th July to consider how to respond to Government pronouncements expected on 12^th July. The “National Guidance” will then require our response. We will seek to ensure our churches are as safe as possible. At the same time we need to be renewed in our worship and our witness, in our faith and in our prayer. Travel with me on this longer journey!                    

Martin Jackson