Government guidance on opening places of worship has now been interpreted by the Church of England.
As we approach the return of church services from July 4, that new and relevant guidance from the national Church is available here.
Commenting on the progress towards emergence from lockdown restrictions, Diocesan Secretary Jonathan Wood said in a bulletin sent to all parishes yesterday: “Decisions on services and openings can only be decided locally; but we want to say again that the decision is ‘can’ not ‘must’. The guiding principle remains doing what is right for our communities.
“Inevitably the guidance will not cover every situation and it also won’t remove risk entirely. However, it is guidance on how risks can be managed and mitigated and we would encourage you to approach it in that spirit,” Jonathan said.
“We know for many it will feel quite overwhelming and daunting and so we have established a group of ‘emergence consultants’ who will be able to help share experience and advice.
“These individuals (both lay and clergy) drawn from our congregations have got a range of expertise and experience and have volunteered to help us through this time – for which we are very grateful. If you need some help or guidance, please get in touch with your archdeacon or with diocesan staff at covid-19help@leeds.anglican.org and someone will then be able to get in touch with an answer or to share experience and provide support.”
Jonathan also announced new funding available from the diocese to help with emergence.
“To further support churches as we move forward, I am delighted to also share with you the launch of our Emergence Mission Grants.
“This is a specific pot we have designated from our mission fund to help churches emerge with a mission focus. We want you to be able to engage confidently with the challenges and opportunities and so are making available a large number of small grants.”
More details of the grant scheme and other relevant resources are available on the diocesan website’s COVID-19 section.