24 February – Peter Jolly, Petersfield and Liss URC

Open for business

Throughout the last year of ‘on-off’ lockdowns with varying degrees of severity we have been encouraged to undertake physical exercise. For me that has chiefly meant walking. One of the joys of rambling in the English countryside has been, admittedly when not constrained by the ‘local’ ligature, coming across churches in the landscape. Beloved by Betjeman, medieval, or earlier, some now with only a semblance of a village around them, others were built at enormous human expense, their current maintenance costs outstripping revenue. Their obvious past centrality to community life contrasts with the requirements of smaller congregations in recent years.

If you walk past many today, whatever may be the permissibility of holding Christian worship, doors will be locked with little sign of life. Is the Church dead? Not a bit!

Wonderful as the architectural and historical significance of these buildings may be, and I would hate to see any fall into disuse, the last year has reminded Christians that the Church is neither bound by, nor dependent on, physical structures. The Church is a fellowship of believers, and thanks to the wonders of technology unimaginable only a couple of decades ago it has remained ‘open all hours’. Although for most congregations, live streaming and virtual worship are a poor substitute for the real thing, they offer accessibility in a less confrontational way to enquirers of the faith, and comfort for the housebound, with the ability to join in services when inclement weather or distance inhibits physical presence in Church. Look out for innovative ways of worshipping complementing regular Church services when social distancing is, I pray, a thing of the past. Yes, the Church has joined the current century and is rising to the challenges of relevance in the new ‘normal’.