Here are the headlines about St Luke’s Church during the Coronavirus Pandemic:
- We encourage people to follow Government advice to stay home
- We have top tips for helping people while at home
- Public Worship has been suspended, see below
- Our Sunday 10.30am service is live-streamed on Facebook
- Our Wednesday 10am prayer meeting is live-streamed on Facebook
- We have a remote 9am Sunday service using a service sheet available here.
- Encourage prayer, resources available on the website
- If people need any help please email us at hello@stlukesholbeck.org.uk
- We have started a podcast, All Gospel No Germs.
St Luke’s has, like many other places of worship, been affected by the Coronavirus Pandemic.
From 17 March 2020 we are not gathering for public services for the foreseeable future. Until further notice there will be no Sunday services.
In light of the Government guidance around non-essential contact, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have issued advice that public worship is suspended until further notice. This is hoped to stem the spread of Coronavirus. The Archbishop’s call is for the Church of England to become radically different in the way we worship and serve our community.
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York are calling for Church of England churches to put public worship on hold and become a “different sort of church” in the coming months to face the challenge of Coronavirus.
In a joint letter, Archbishops Justin Welby and John Sentamu said it was now necessary to put public services on hold until further notice.
But they said that far from having to “shut up shop”, the Church of England must face the challenge by becoming a radically different kind of church rooted in prayer and serving others.
It comes after the Government announced unprecedented peacetime measures to try to control the spread of the virus, with restrictions on public gatherings, transport and working.
They also invited clergy to maintain the ancient pattern of daily prayer – live streaming their worship if they have the resources to do so.
And they urged congregations to be in the forefront of providing practical care and support for the most poor and the most vulnerable during the crisis.
“Being a part of the Church of England is going to look very different in the days ahead,” they wrote.
“Our life is going to be less characterised by attendance at church on Sunday, and more characterised by the prayer and service we offer each day.
“We may not be able to pray with people in the ways that we are used to, but we can certainly pray for people. And we can certainly offer practical care and support.
“Please do carry on supporting the local foodbank and buy extra provisions for it. Ensure the night shelters wherever possible are kept open. There are many very encouraging schemes happening right across our country in communities to focus on caring for the most vulnerable and do continue to play your part in those.
“Then by our service, and by our love, Jesus Christ will be made known, and the hope of the gospel – a hope that can counter fear and isolation – will spread across our land.”
The archbishops have joined other church leaders in calling for a day of prayer and action this Sunday (Mothering Sunday) particularly remembering those who are sick or anxious and all involved in health and emergency services.
Further information on what the suspension of public worship will mean will be available as soon as possible on the Church of England website. This page will be regularly updated.
What this means for St Luke’s Beeston Hill and Holbeck:
- no services midweek (Holy Communion or Prayer meetings)
- no services on Sundays
Click for alternative arrangements for Sundays and Daily Prayer.
At the moment we are extending our building! We will see the west end of church built out to the road. This will create more space and community rooms, which we want to fill with new projects throughout the week. These vibrant community projects will range from youth programmes to work with the elderly.