On Remembrance Sunday, while most evangelical churches remained closed in England, a few churches took part in a collective act of civil disobedience, opening their doors for public worship.
This followed a letter signed by 1,500 people urging the government not to close places of worship.
en spoke to one church family who met illegally. Singing in a face mask was a moving experience for many: ‘It’s practically impossible breathing in deeply in enough time to sing the start of the next line. The sound goes almost nowhere. But it’s worth trying.’
The minister of the church told en: ‘Christians need to look at our theology of church. Public worship is being classed as non-essential and in the main our Christian leaders have rolled over. The government has hugely over-reached and is acting as if it has an authority that only belongs to Jesus Christ.’
Writing on his blog a few days before Remembrance Sunday, FIEC National Director, John Stevens said: ‘There is no evidence of Covid transmission in a church context that I, or apparently the government, are aware of … At the same time, I believe it is still right for churches to obey the law and submit to the state. Even if the evidence is lacking, the state is clearly not acting maliciously … We ought to exhaust our legal remedies before we consider civil disobedience.’
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