Experiences of parish worship during the pandemic and how we may emerge with sustained engagement and fresh learning were the main topics at the March online Synod.
Following Bishop Nick’s Presidential Address in which he called for confident progress in “freshly faithful ways”, Diocesan Secretary Jonathan Wood gave a presentation on how our churches and worshippers have addressed the challenges of the last 12 months.
He recalled how at first, no-one realised how significant the social changes imposed by COVID-19 would be, nor how long they would last.
However, he said there had been “countless examples of creativity and willingness to adapt” combined with a huge amount of mission across the diocese.
Jonathan showed some slides which illustrated initiatives in diocesan communication and stories of great community outreach by our churches, adding “I could have showed you slide, after slide, after slide…”
Days before his first anniversay in post, Jonathan said how the next step was to consider previous practices in the context of what to stop, what to restart, what to let go and what to amplify.
“That’s where our Diocesan Strategy can be really helpful as a frame, a guide to where our priorities lie.
“Our Vision and Strategy remain unaltered, but some things have changed in terms of emphasis as we’ve learnt more – such as learning about the capacity of our lay members.”
He said the Strategy Toolkit would be helpful in assessing how churches were to best emerge from the pandemic and a mini survey would be sent out by the diocese to get a collective response to the issues we face.
Synod members then went into Zoom break-out rooms to discuss how the last year has been, how our churches have served their communities and what has been learnt.
In one discussion group, a view was that church communities have drawn closer during difficult times, particularly with increased daily engagement on social media.
Another view was that there is a sense of adventure, and even excitement, which people are keen to sustain.
It was said a negative impact had been felt in one “gathered” community, where a contingent of visiting worshippers had opted out of online engagement.
However, in that same community, bible study sessions had thrived and would continue to do so.
Services streamed by our cathedrals were also praised and also initiatives such as Bishop Tony Robinson’s weekly online lectures by guest speakers.
While the creative industry of our churches was recognised, so too was the trauma caused by the pandemic and its impact on clergy energy levels.
The vital work of food banks was cited as an example of obvious and ongoing help for communities and it was noted how “fringe” worship had increased dramatically with some experiencing ten-fold increases in online numbers.
Significantly, there was agreement that many people are now excited at the prospect of returning to physical worship, as online versions were “not the same thing” and they are missing sacramental worship.
One theme was the importance of intentional interaction with social groups who might be excluded from online worship due to age, poverty, inclination, location, or lack of language skills, in order to prevent parish communities becoming fractured.
In the ensuing general discussion by Synod, it was noted that there was an openness to doing things differently, especially in acknowledging the positive energy and creativity of the laity.
Summing up, Bishop Nick said:” One of the gifts of the pandemic is that we recognise that we are all colleagues and not competitors.
“We’re in this together, so any defences have come down and we can all share and learn from each other.
“We’re a big group with loads of creativity, so please don’t be anxious about the future - we’ve just not been here before!”