Just because we are in isolation does not mean that we are not still the church! We continue to be the body of Christ, praying and serving our community even if we are not physically around one another.

And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

HEBREWS 10:24-25

Although we can’t meet physically together we can still meet in other ways and keep the communication lines open.

Let’s keep ringing each other and messaging in a positive way on social media. Let’s offer to help vulnerable neighbours where we can with shopping and collecting prescriptions.

To help us to continue to worship together in my parishes I will be posting a daily recording (podcast) in the sermons section of our church website – this will be a mixture of prayer, meditation, news and sermons. Alternatively you can find the podcast at anchor.fm/bcjj. 

If you’re a vicar and want to do what I’m doing, I’ve created this short video explaining how to make a podcast using the Anchor app:

Our church Facebook pages and group are as follows:

St John the Baptist Clowne: https://www.facebook.com/stjohnthebaptistclowne/

St James Barlborough: https://www.facebook.com/stjamesbarlborough

Our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/202901243658071/

We have produced a downloadable prayer book for those who do not use the internet: http://bcjj.org.uk/…/praying-in-a-pandemic-a-booklet-to-do…/

Other prayer resources can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/…/coronavirus-liturgy-and-p…

The free Bible app YouVersion is a fantastic way to read the bible and share verses with friends: https://www.youversion.com/