I am sorry that I haven't been in touch sooner. As I said, I had hoped that the guidance we were waiting for would be out towards the end of last week or on Monday. As it happens, it has gone live today.

The scope of the guidance is not quite as wide as I had hoped and possibly led you to believe, and only covers guidance for opening church buildings for works to the building and interior, and guidance for access to churches and cathedrals for construction work. I know these documents will be useful to some of you, and they can be found on the central church’s Covid information page here - under the FAQ ‘Can construction work be carried out?’. There will be more, and we will share it as soon as we have it. 

There are a couple of new resources I would like to share with you. The evangelism and discipleship team in London are running a really helpful series of webinars - and they are popular too, as some of you found out when signing up to the first ones I pointed you to a few weeks ago! They cover topics such as:

• Using technology to support funeral ministry
• Culture after the virus, anticipating our new context
• Leadership in the time of Covid-19
• Opening the doors: being on mission in and beyond lockdown

They can be found here, and if you aren’t able to attend fear not, they are recorded and the recordings can be found here. 

Another resource that is available to you is a short video for anybody and everybody, lay or ordained, people who attend church or who do not. It features Revd Kate Bottley and was produced by the church working with bereavement charities. You can find it here. It has a simple message to help everybody and anybody to feel that there is something they can do for people, even in the current situation. 

On Sunday, there will be a recorded service of worship on the website from 8am, with subtitles, and then Bishop Philip and Ruth will be on Facebook Live again on Sunday at 0930. Advance warning, though, next week the Mounstephens are on leave and so there won’t be either service. On Sunday 31st, there will be a Cornwall-wide, ecumenical service let by Revd Steve Morgan and featuring lots of familiar faces from across the county, and we will point you in the direction of that as soon as we have the details. 

If you have parish colleagues on this distribution list who do not receive emails, I’d be grateful if you could please pass on this information. 

Thanks and best wishes,

Richard

21.05.20

Dear colleagues 

I write today with some positive news. 

In the light of changing Government guidance, and pending any further advice from the House of Bishops, Bishop Philip is relaxing his direction regarding public ministry (such as is currently permitted, for instance funerals) for those ministers under the age of 70.  

Ministers under the age of 70 with underlying health conditions (or living with those who have such conditions) may return to ministry (subject to national restrictions) if they:

1. Take into account the relative risks associated with the relevant health condition(s), and make their own decision about whether to return to ministry.  So e.g. those who have been asked to ‘shield’ should continue to refrain. For more information, please see https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/people-at-higher-risk-from-coronavirus/. 

2. Adhere to the government guidance to ‘stay alert’: by limiting contact with other people, keeping their distance, washing their hands, etc.

There will be no criticism of any ministers who conclude that they ought still to avoid public ministry.  Further details about the significance of the advice to ‘stay alert’ can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do

The bishop’s requirement for all ministers over the age of 70 is that they continue to refrain from any form of public ministry (unless via remote media).

Could I please ask that any questions are directed towards your respective archdeacon.

Please also note that the Pentecost online service that I referred to in yesterday’s update will be live on the Facebook page and YouTube channel of St Martin’s Church, Liskeard, at 11am, on Sunday, May 31. 

Many thanks, and with all best wishes,

Richard