Mission Co-ordinator Richard Barrett has trawled church websites and social media accounts of churches in the diocese and estimates the following provisions are being made:
Online Provision |
Churches |
% |
|
Sunday Services and more |
173 |
31.8 |
|
Weekly Sunday Service |
125 |
23.0 |
|
No Provision seen |
78 |
14.3 |
|
Other Provision |
87 |
16.0 |
|
Signposted Elsewhere |
27 |
5.0 |
|
'Private' Sunday Service |
41 |
7.5 |
|
One-Off Service |
13 |
2.4 |
Numbers refer to the churches covered by services – so if a vicar carries out an online service and is an incumbent of 3 churches, all 3 churches are counted as having had a service.
To check we recorded your church correctly, view your entry on this spreadsheet and email any corrections to richard.barrett@lichfield.anglican.org .
Sunday Services and more
These churches have a recognisable online Sunday service, with some additional content in various forms; perhaps content aimed at young people, midweek prayer, worship, special services for Holy Week or Easter, Assemblies, ‘Coronavirus Keep Fit’ sessions to worship songs, and online reflections or other encouragements.
Weekly Sunday Service
These churches are providing a weekly online Sunday service of some form; almost all are in the morning, but 2 are doing it on Sunday evening.
‘Private’ Sunday Service
These churches provide weekly services using the ‘Zoom’ platform – meaning that to take part the would-be worshipper has to request the link beforehand.
One-Off Services
These churches provided a one-off service but do not appear to be doing it on a weekly basis. In the majority of cases this was some form of celebration for Easter Day, but one church had an online service for Mothering Sunday.
Other Provision
These churches have been providing content that could not really be classed as ‘an online service’ but may have been very helpful for their own purpose and setting; including music in various forms, Reflections, Testimonies, Meditations, ‘Wednesday Wonderings’, Bible Studies, ‘Prayer Trees’, Children’s printable worksheets, Notice Sheets; readings from C.S. Lewis, and plenty more besides.
Signposted Elsewhere
These churches have signposted their congregations to other worshipping communities they felt confident to recommend. Within the diocese such recommendations included the Bishops of Lichfield and Wolverhampton, the Cathedral, and our churches in Meole Brace and Shifnal.
Beyond the diocese they included the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Manchester, The Society of Saint Wilfrid and Saint Hilda, services broadcast by Cross Rhythms or the BBC, and also the churches of All Souls Langham Place, and St Paul’s Luton.
No provision seen
These churches were those where no provision for worship or prayer during the Covid-19 crisis was visible on their website, Facebook, or A Church Near You pages.