Whilst many churches have re-opened the doors over the past few months, actual in person attendance has in most cases been unavoidably limited. What we can do in person has been extremely restricted and social distancing has limited capacity. Some churches have not been able to open at all due to renting their premises. Therefore,… Continue reading Returning to in person church after lockdown – how can we look after one another?
Tag: lockdown
We need to do better at deep and charitable theological engagement (another lesson from COVID)
You are a church leader and you’ve just been told by the government that due to a pandemic ripping through the population, you will now need to suspend public services as part of a national lockdown. You know that schools, pubs, restaurants, theatres and sports stadia are being closed. You know that people are being… Continue reading We need to do better at deep and charitable theological engagement (another lesson from COVID)
What lessons should Christians be learning from the pandemic? (1) What has God been teaching us?
The other day, I wrote about the lessons that the UK as a country needs to be looking at if it’s to learn from the pandemic for the future. What about the church? What lessons are we learning as Christians from the pandemic? Well, someone of those lessons are not really going to become clearer… Continue reading What lessons should Christians be learning from the pandemic? (1) What has God been teaching us?
How should we respond to local/regional COVID-19 hotspots?
Over the last few days attention has begun to focus on a few towns and places where Coronavirus cases are on the increase again. Bolton is increasingly making it into the headlines but there are other places where this is causing concern including Bedford. The other concerning factor is that these increases tend to be… Continue reading How should we respond to local/regional COVID-19 hotspots?
Complying with COVID measures did not imply a lack of faith
One of the nastiest lies put about through the last year is that anyone who sought to comply with COVID-19 measures such as wearing face masks, social distancing and co-operating with restrictions on church gathering were somehow lacking in faith. If they had enough faith in Jesus, then they would not be worried about death… Continue reading Complying with COVID measures did not imply a lack of faith
What lessons will the UK learn from the COVID-19 pandemic?
At some point in the next few months, we can expect the Government to set up a review of the impact that the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic had on the UK and the effectiveness of our response to it. What kinds of things should the review look at? What lessons should we be learning? Here are… Continue reading What lessons will the UK learn from the COVID-19 pandemic?
After the pandemic -don’t forget about the body of Christ
We are enjoying our new church and particularly the prayer meetings and mid-week community groups. Often at these, one of the elders will pick up on a key thing from the Sunday sermon and encourage us to think about practical application before turning to prayer. The other Sunday, the speaker had talked about Christ returning… Continue reading After the pandemic -don’t forget about the body of Christ
COVID-19: What we need to know about a possible third wave
We are currently hearing a lot of speculation about a possible third wave of COVID-19 and why this means we must be cautious about how we come out of lockdown. It has been suggested that if a third wave hits then this could lead to a return to previous restrictions and a longer period of… Continue reading COVID-19: What we need to know about a possible third wave
“I don’t just want you to survive ….”
The other day, I talked about how the stand out thing I’d learnt from Mike Ovey was to allow God to disagree with me through his word. Well, one way that God disagreed with me came through Mike’s teaching, though in this case posthumously. After Mike’s untimely death, I remember one former student sharing that… Continue reading “I don’t just want you to survive ….”
How do we avoid future lockdowns?
Despite the roll out of the vaccine and the gradual easing of lockdown, there’s still a lot of pessimism in the air. Consistently we hear talk about the potential for COVID-19 infections to rise again and further deaths. Whilst the Government are adamant that there is no reason for us to see a reverse of… Continue reading How do we avoid future lockdowns?