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Weddings and worship in Devon’s church buildings from 4 July
Church leaders in Devon have welcomed the news that services, including weddings, will be able to take place in church buildings from 4 July. But they have also said it would be wrong to “close the virtual door” to the growing number of people who have been attending online church services during lockdown by ceasing to produce them. The Government announced the changes to the rules for places of worship along with new guidance about…
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Swapping Cream Teas and Cricket for Footie and Fried Rice
A pilot project in Plymouth aims to unify communities from different cultural backgrounds by sharing recipes, sport and life experiences. Food hampers and sports sets have been delivered across the city as part of the Unifying Plymouth initiative. Nigerian meal kits have been given to 25, mainly white, British families. They contain all the ingredients needed to make Dafa Duka (Nigerian Fried Rice), a recipe card and a magazine about Nigeria’s national sport, football. “If…
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Devon churches prepare to open for prayer
Churches across Devon are preparing to open their buildings following changes to the Government guidance on places of worship. People are now be able to enter some of the county’s 600 churches for private prayer. Funerals can also take place in churches from 15 June and most parishes are waiting until Monday or later to open to allow time for physical distancing measures to be put in place. Around half of vicars in Devon who…
Read More »Thy Kingdom Come Zoom Prayer Room is a Hit
The Reverend James Grier is a happy man. The Diocese of Exeter’s Mission Enabler had been worried that running a continuous 10-day, 24 hours a day prayer room on Zoom would be hard to get people to sign up to and he would end up doing the lonely overnight slots on his own. But in the end, the prayer room, which was part of the international Thy Kingdom Come prayer initiative, exceeded expectations. Over 500…
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New Doorstep Church brings Devon neighbours together
Doorstep Church grew from an Easter Sunday lockdown sing song on a suburban North Devon street. The Reverend Andy Dodwell, the vicar of St John the Baptist church in Newport, Barnstaple, explains: “We went out of our house on Easter Sunday and eventually about 15 of us joined together to sing random requests of hymns. “We stood around chatting in the sunshine, kids rode bikes and people made comments like ‘We think more people would…
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“Better Together” the message of St Boniface for 2020
The life of Devon’s patron saint, St Boniface, shows us that we are better working together than alone, according to the Bishop of Crediton, the Right Reverend Jackie Searle. In a reflection to mark St Boniface day on 5 June, she says that just as St Boniface found his mission flourished when he teamed-up with others, people have found new ways of working together to deal with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. She said…
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