‘Keep trusting in our sovereign God.’ That’s the message from Free Church of Scotland Moderator Donnie MacDonald as the pandemic tightens its grip.
Mr MacDonald spoke after churches in Scotland were required to shut again, with many congregations in the rest of the UK also closing physical meetings voluntarily.
But church leaders in Scotland were requesting a resumption in services as en went to press. And a poll for en revealed that just over half of English and Welsh evangelical churches from many different denominations surveyed were choosing to gather solely online. In his message Mr MacDonald said: ‘I want again to encourage you to look up and to see the greatness and the goodness of our God.
‘Keep trusting. Keep trusting in our Sovereign God, in His purpose, in His plan, knowing that He does work everything together for our good and His glory. Keep trusting in His love and in His goodness, that He will continue to keep you and provide for you, that His grace is sufficient for you.’
Meanwhile, the online poll of more than 200 churches revealed that since the latest pandemic restrictions, in England 51% of congregations are meeting online only, while nearly 49% are meeting both online and in person. One congregation continued to meet in person only. There were very similar proportions in Wales.
John Stevens, National Director of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) said: ‘FIEC would urge all churches to comply fully with the law and guidance, and respect the autonomy of each local church as to whether to continue to meet physically during this difficult period for our nation. It is important that we respect each other and the decisions that our churches make and not cast aspersions on the motives that individuals and churches may have for either choosing to remain open or moving to online services only.’
Graham Nicholls of evangelical network Affinity said: ‘We are so thankful that the government has given the freedom to churches to remain open for public worship during this new lockdown in England. Churches have been carefully organising their meetings in accordance with government guidance. We would therefore urge church leaders to make the most of these opportunities where it is appropriate and safe to do so, but to be scrupulously careful in keeping all the hygiene and social-distancing protocols.’
Danny Webster of the Evangelical Alliance said: ‘We know our member churches are approaching this differently depending on their local context, their congregation, their facilities and their church needs. This is a moment for kindness, wisdom and grace. We ask congregations to understand the difficult choices faced by their leaders even if they disagree with them. We ask churches to respect those who decide differently and pray for them in this moment.’
Fresh plea to open in Scotland
Meanwhile, over 200 religious leaders in Scotland have signed a letter to the Scottish Government urging them to allow places of worship to be reopened. A further 300 signatories were added from across the UK.
The open letter to the First Minister says: ‘We know of no evidence of any tangible contribution to community transmission through churches in Scotland. To the contrary, since churches reopened in July we have demonstrated that places of worship and public worship can be made safe from Covid transmission.’
Shops continue to be the place most people with Covid have ‘visited whilst infectious’, according to tracing data collected by Public Health Scotland.
Professor Jason Leitch, the Scottish Government’s national clinical director, said 120 people had attended a place of worship while infectious with coronavirus in the first week in January. However it is believed no transmissions of the virus between church members were recorded.
The letter continues: ‘We are dismayed because there seems to be a failure in the Scottish Government to understand that Christian worship is an essential public service, and especially vital to our nation in a time of crisis.’
William Philip from the Tron church, Glasgow, spoke to en saying: ‘Churches have been compared to schools because people are gathered inside a building, which is why schools and churches have been closed. But there is no comparison. Schools have had cases of transmission within them, and Professor Leitch hasn’t said the same for churches. We sit apart. We don’t have busy corridors. We’ve had restricted numbers regardless of the size of the building. We do wear masks. The churches have shown they are safe.’
