New Covid-19 Lockdown In England: Faith Leaders Are Furious

ENGLAND is about to enter its second COVID-19 lockdown – and senior clergy are angry that the government excluded them from consultations about the latest restrictions which include church services being banned for almost a month.

Premier reports that Prime Minister Boris Johnson, above, failed to address the concerns of faith leaders when he said in a Downing Street briefing that:

From Thursday [November 5] until the start of December, you must stay at home. You may only leave home for specific reasons.

Said Premier:

The omission of any information about religious gatherings at the press conference caused many church leaders and members to express their frustration that faith communities did not have their vital questions addressed while the hospitality sector and leisure industry were told how the lockdown would impact them.

Even though churches will remain open for private prayer, funerals, formal childcare and other essential voluntary and public services and will also be allowed to broadcast sermons, John Stevens, National Director of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) moaned that churches’ value to society:

Is simply not matched by government/public/media assessment.

And he suggested that church leaders should organise a final service for Wednesday, November 4, before congregations are limited from seeing each other again.

Yahoo! adds that the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and the Bishop of London intend to write to the government to emphasise the “critical role” that churches play in the community.

The Bishop of Shrewsbury, Mark Davies, says that evidence is needed to support the measures and that worship:

Should never be dismissed as something non-essential.

The bishops insist that the use of sacraments – such as receiving communion – was an integral part of physical services and should not be viewed as an “optional extra” by the Government.

Worship online still means that the people of God do not have access to the sacraments which are so central to our life in Christ. This is a huge loss and since we were not consulted about the lockdown provisions, we fully intend to speak with Government about why certain exemptions are made and not others. The sacramental life of the church cannot be seen as an optional extra.

The Christian Institute entered the fray, saying that the restrictions went against people’s “fundamental right to worship.”

Colin Hart, Director of The Christian Institute, said:

Churches have complied rigorously with Covid rules and protected their congregations, yet they are being forced to close. Where is the evidence to justify this restriction on the fundamental right to worship? It will do immense damage to many people’s well-being and to their trust in Government.

If politicians think public worship is dispensable, who knows when they will allow churches to reopen again?

Rt Rev Mark Davies added:

No evidence has been offered to justify why the Government seeks to ban public worship that invariably takes place amid some of the most stringent Covid safety measures in the whole of society.

The Prime Minister made no reference in his statement to public worship so we were astonished to find in national guidance that the Government was seeking the authority of Parliament to close all places of worship.

It is a momentous act for any political authority to seek to ban public worship across a nation.

A National Day of Prayer is needed

Meanwhile, Premier reports here that that two Northern Ireland MPs – Jim Shannon and Ian Paisley from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) – have called on Johnson to declare a national day of prayer.

Speaking in the debate on coronavirus in the Commons, Shannon, above, told MPs that the Government should:

Recognise the importance of prayer as prayer helps us to renew ourselves … We need support for the NHS, we need support for businesses and the vulnerable, but along with this, we also need to humble ourselves and ask God to make the path straight as we work together to come through this Covid winter that is ahead of us.

We must trust God, we must pray for the help that we need – I think every one of us here should adhere to that.

Hat tip: Ivan Bailey