Yesterday evening I did one of the strangest tasks I’ve
ever undertaken as a Minister since my ordination in 1987. Through one phone call after another I
basically ‘closed down’ the weekday ministry of Amersham Free Church. That’s because the advice given by Church
Authorities had this clause in it: Suspend catering (teas, coffees etc.) where multiple people touch mugs, utensils and foodstuffs.
I hadn’t fully realised until now that just about everything we do at church revolves around food, or at least a cup of tea!
It was sad today to sit in a quiet vestibule and meet just one or two people instead of the usual buzz of the Friday Coffee Morning with the procession of community choir members, having a rehearsal break, coming for a refreshing cuppa. For the time being this is the way it’s going to be, very quiet.
I hadn’t fully realised until now that just about everything we do at church revolves around food, or at least a cup of tea!
It was sad today to sit in a quiet vestibule and meet just one or two people instead of the usual buzz of the Friday Coffee Morning with the procession of community choir members, having a rehearsal break, coming for a refreshing cuppa. For the time being this is the way it’s going to be, very quiet.
We’ll have to find different ways of supporting each other
and perhaps none better than a lot of friendly phone calls.
So, whereas we’d normally
say that we express our love and compassion by holding the door open and
offering a cup of tea, it’s now the other way around, at least for a time. It’s because we care about people’s well
being that the door is no longer wide open and the tea pot is empty. It all seems the wrong way round but we want
to do our bit to help. Lent 2020 is beginning to really feel like something of a ‘wilderness’. In his time there Jesus taught us what it means to trust in God and think, not primarily of ourselves, but of others. Vital lessons for us all this Spring.
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