Chiswick Clergy Back Move to Open Churches for Online Worship

Vicars of St Michael & All Angels and St Nicholas sign letter to The Times

Father Kevin broadcasting a service from his home. Picture: Facebook

A call to allow churches to reopen to allow for online worship has received the backing of Anglican clergy in Chiswick.

They are among more than 500 priests, churchwardens and parish council members who have signed a letter to The Times, urging Church of England bishops to let clergy resume services from their churches – not just from their homes. They include Fr Kevin Morris, vicar of St Michael & All Angels, Bedford Park (SMAAA, BP); Fr Simon Brandes, vicar of St Nicholas Chiswick; Fr Fabrizio Pesce, associate vicar of St Peter’s Acton Green, Chiswick; and Fr Stephen Stavrou, vicar of St Michael & All Angels Barnes, a former curate at SMAAA, BP.

While not disputing that churches should remain closed for general worship, they have given their support Bishop Peter Selby, who called on the bishops to change the policy that prevents clergy from visiting their churches to pray or broadcast a service. In The Tablet, Bishop Selby wrote that the present approach marked a retreat of the Church from the public to the private realm and that clergy should be designated as “key workers”.

Fr Kevin Morris, vicar of St Michael & All Angels, Bedford Park, announced his support in his Sunday sermon on 3 May. The church broadcasts a service every day on its Facebook page, which is joined by worshippers all over the UK and overseas. You can watch a recording of Sunday’s service here.

In his sermon, Fr Kevin said, “Bishop Peter Selby, formerly Bishop of Worcester, has penned a stinging attack on the current lockdown policy of the House of Bishops which does not allow clergy to enter their churches for personal private prayer or to live-stream services. He has no argument against closing churches for public worship at this time, but he makes the case for clergy as key workers doing essential work at this time - something the government has recognised.

He writes, "Clergy are key workers, exercising an essential public function, one rooted in the architecture and layout of their churches and the liturgical function they carry out within them… livestreaming from these sacred buildings would have reassured the wider public that the fundamental fabric of our common life and history - of which our large and small churches, including the historic Lambeth Palace chapel, are an integral part – had not succumbed to coronavirus fear. The C of E has instead retreated to the kitchen.”

The letter to the Times states, “Without detracting from the excellent worship offered by many clergy in their homes, domestic settings cannot replace the church buildings that represent the consecration of our public life”. They are not calling for churches to be re-opened for public worship.

Fr Kevin concluded: “I am in full agreement with that view.”

May 4, 2020