| Last week, Christian Concern helped a group of Church leaders urge the government to trust pastors to reopen churches. |
| The principle of the Church’s independence is important – as a guard against oppression but also to allow churches to serve their communities fully. Churches are more than food bank collection points, helping people’s mental and spiritual wellbeing and offering many other vital services. If workplaces throughout the country have been trusted to make these decisions wisely and safely, why not the Church? Pastors are committed to the wellbeing of their churches’ members and their wider communities. With the lockdown easing and many other public areas reopening, church leaders must be given the freedom to make the decision themselves when and how to re-open. The one-size-fits-all ban treats gathered church worship as if it is a luxury and wrongly stops responsible pastors from making the decision themselves. The government has written, asking for more time to respond, but promising a formal response next week. Pray for a constructive response and an opportunity to meet with the government to discuss the issue further. |
| If workplaces throughout the country have been trusted to make these decisions wisely and safely, why not the Church? Pastors are committed to the wellbeing of their churches’ members and their wider communities. With the lockdown easing and many other public areas reopening, church leaders must be given the freedom to make the decision themselves when and how to re-open. The one-size-fits-all ban treats gathered church worship as if it is a luxury and wrongly stops responsible pastors from making the decision themselves. The government has written, asking for more time to respond, but promising a formal response next week. Pray for a constructive response and an opportunity to meet with the government to discuss the issue further. |
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