Live-streaming and Zoom calls have been a blessing and have allowed us to stay connected during lockdown, but they are a poor substitute for fellowshipping together. On 5 July, churches in England were allowed to open for the first time in nearly four months and after a month of preparations, Hendon Baptist Church opened its doors on 2 August. We all had different thoughts and feelings about this. Some felt it was too soon, for others it could not come soon enough. Some felt reassured by the government guidelines for churches, others felt these were too restrictive. Some felt it was safe to return, others are continuing to self-isolate due to age or health conditions. Lindsay spoke to some of those who have chosen to return to services about how they felt.
Joan: When the reopening of the church was announced, I was a bit hesitant to come back because by that point, I hadn’t been indoors with people outside my household, and, I didn’t know what to expect. However, when I attended, I was encouraged by the extensive measures put in place, for example pre-booked seating, sanitising etc.
My first service back was uplifting and it was really good to see familiar faces after a long period of not being able to meet in person.
Mobi: Attended church for the first time since lockdown on 23 August 2020. I walked in with the mindset of abnormality, but once I entered it was different – meaning I had to sit still and wave across whilst trying to identify the face behind the mask – ‘smiles’. Anyway, felt uncomfortable with the face mask initially, but once I got the hang of why I was attending church, all that went away. I was happy to see old faces and definitely a cool feeling to be back again. I thank God for life.
Vincent: I think we all were happy that we have James and Luke. And with all their hard work our church didn't close but went online. And thanks to all the very hard work put in by Errol, Lindsay, Esther, Ethan and Asher, we all were able to join in with the services just as if we were still at church. We still had the music group, which at first was Errol on piano, Esther on drums and Lindsay and Ethan singing, which we all enjoyed. And now we have April and the rest of the music group.
Now that the church has reopened, it's nice to see so many people coming and it's really nice that we have been having new people as well as our regulars, which include a good number of young people. Though church is different now as there are only a limited number of people who can come and everybody has to sit by themselves, 2 metres away from everybody, I don't think that has taken anything away from the Sunday service. In fact the only thing I think we are all missing by being back at church is Lindsay’s quizzes. And thanks to the continued hard work put in by James, we have two ways to enjoy the service. Hopefully, soon we can open the church more, and more people will be able to come. And we will be able to enjoy tea and coffee after the service, though I am enjoying not having all the washing-up to do.
Khadija: Going back to church was a bit scary for me at first. However, seeing the safety measures that have been put in place in the church was a consolation. I now feel very confident and blessed to be worshiping with my fellow brethren after quite a while. The Lord has watched over us throughout the pandemic to this time, let us be bold, get back into our churches with thanks and praise.
Sean: I was quite scared coming back to church again, but it was still very welcoming. Although church duration is a little shorter now, it was still a delight to see everyone in person again.
Anne-Marie: It has been a long time since we could all meet together at HBC! I have enjoyed watching services online during lockdown, in the comfort of my sofa! But I have missed being together with everyone in Church.
I was apprehensive when Church opened its doors again, with all the restrictions, and thought it might feel empty and cold, with limited numbers of people, and with seating spaced out, no singing – that it would be strange and also uncomfortable, wearing a mask throughout! Surprisingly I didn't feel any of this and it was really nice to see others in person.
I connected much more with worship and prayers, being there, as opposed to watching online, and this has been important for me, I sing quietly to myself under my mask! It was also nice to have a little distanced chat outside afterwards.
So to anyone feeling nervous about coming back: don't be, Church is cleaned really well, seating is well spaced out, hand sanitiser used on entry and everyone wearing masks.
Let's hope and pray measures will be able to relax more over the next few months, but whatever happens God will see us through these difficult times. Let us leave our anxieties with the Lord, who is forever faithful! Amen
Nana: During the lockdown period my spiritual life and my relationship with God have grown stronger. My faith in the word of God has kept my family going, it has brought restoration, healing, breakthroughs into our home. The online church has been challenging, otherwise great still worshipping God from our own home. It’s also been great coming back to church, with all the safety precautions in place, which was reassuring for people like me, who had an operation during this pandemic. Seeing familiar and friendly faces as well brings a smile to my face, despite everyone being required to wear masks, but nevertheless my experience back has been nothing short of wonderful.
Jacqui: I too was dubious about church reopening in August. I couldn’t see how the kind of distanced, masked, non-singing, non-hugging meeting envisaged could possibly feel like real worship. I also had good reason not to come along to church, as I have been shielding throughout the lockdown period. But I have to say, God somehow got through to me and encouraged me to sign up for a ticket (which in itself felt strange) and last Sunday (5 September) I went to the morning service for the first time for almost six months. And it felt very different from how I had been thinking it would when we first began to consider reopening, I was really surprised! I found myself looking forward to going – it has just been so difficult not coming to the service in person all these weeks, even though the live-streaming has been brilliant!
I must say that I felt very confident about the safeguarding measures that have been put in place – certainly safer than going to the supermarket! It does feel very strange seeing so few people in church, not singing and not having tea and coffee (and other treats) afterwards. But it’s not as strange as I had expected, and it was just so lovely to see my Christian family again. We were able to chat afterwards (taking all reasonable care), and masks notwithstanding that felt very good! Somehow, being in the church with those who were able to attend feels totally different, although I am very aware that there are some in our fellowship who cannot come along yet. My prayer is that we would all feel part of one family, whether or not we can come into the building, and that those of you who can will come and let yourself enjoy worshipping God together with us. ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good!’ (Psalm 34:8).
Are you interested in attending a service in person? You can read our guidelines, watch a video about what services are like and book tickets on our website: www.hendonbaptistchurch.org.uk/covid Please get in touch if you would like to talk more about attending.