Bishop calls for physical public acts of worship to be suspended for January

The Bishop of St Asaph is advising all clergy in his diocese to suspend in-person acts of worship for the rest of January.

Responding to the uncertainty over Coronavirus and the requirement of the Welsh Government for people to stay at home, Bishop Gregory Cameron is encouraging the broadcasting of services and the use of social media and other virtual methods of collective worship as an alternative.

In his monthly letter to clergy, Bishop Gregory said: “At a time when we are asked by government not to mingle households, and not to meet indoors, when all but essential shops are closed, and business meetings kept to a minimum, it seems sensible to the Bishop’s Staff [the senior staff in the diocese] for us to be cautious.  It is true that while the government are not currently requiring Churches to close, their recommendation is very strong.”

He goes on to quote the Welsh Government advice: “Places of worship are able to open for communal worship in all four alert levels. While we recognise the importance of communal worship, the advice, particularly in alert level 4, is for people not to congregate whenever possible (my emphasis). The safest option is to stay home and not socially mix at all and people who are clinically extremely vulnerable should take extra precautions to minimise their contact with others.  Alert level 4 is the highest and most severe alert level therefore those who are responsible for places of worship should consider whether there are alternative ways of holding worship services and providing support for each other whilst they are in this alert level. For example, faith leaders may choose to broadcast services without a congregation. ”

Churches across the diocese, which stretches from Llandudno in the north-west of Wales to Newtown in the south, have responded by reviewing their current service provision and moving worship online.  A number of churches had cancelled their in-person services over Christmas in light of Wales’ move into Tier 4 on 20 December.  Today, there have been further announcements from churches via facebook and twitter, with services open to all online.

You can keep up to date with Coronavirus guidance and resources to support you at this time at https://dioceseofstasaph.org.uk/coronavirus/ 

The Bishop of St Asaph is pastorally responsible for more than 200 churches and congregations and 51 church schools in north east and mid Wales. He is one of the six bishops of the Church in Wales, which is an independent Province of the world-wide Anglican Communion.