Churches struggling with booking members into socially-distanced services have a new aid, thanks to a social media appeal by an FIEC pastor.
Cardiff pastor Dave Gobbett of Highfields Church took to Twitter and Facebook to ask what systems other church leaders were using. Within a few days, in direct response, web designer Jack Barber from Whitby Evangelical Church had come up with an innovative solution. His new system – viewable at churchserviceplanner.co.uk. – was described by Dave Gobbett as ‘incredible’.
Meanwhile, church leaders continue to wrestle with the wider implications of the new surge in Covid cases. FIEC national director John Stevens, responding to the new ‘three-tier’ system introduced by the government, wrote: ‘Places of worship will not be required to close under any tier of the alert system, although social interaction between attendees will be more restricted under the higher tiers.’ In a letter to the Financial Times, former Liberal Democrat leader and evangelical Christian Tim Farron MP wrote: ‘Now, as Covid-19 cases rise … I feel strongly that churches should not be asked to close again. ‘Of course, we also have a duty to keep one another safe, and there may be circumstances where churches are indeed forced to close again. Churches have shown they can open safely, with sanitiser, masks and social distancing. Closing them should be a last resort.’
