Plans for a Holloway church to temporarily relocate have been halted after the government’s announcement of a second lockdown last weekend, according to Pastor Chris Gorman.
Gorman said that “ideally” Potter’s House Church had been hoping to relocate their worship space from the Williamson Street Community Centre to St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School in Barnsbury in the next two weeks, so that they could continue communal worship in line with government regulations.
The proposed move came after Potter’s House was forced to shut when the council closed the community centre at the start of October. The church had been open for just over two weeks from 20 September after being unable to open on 4 July, when communal worship resumed, as it took time for the council to re-assess their buildings.
Citing the impact on people’s mental health, Gorman said that he doesn’t think another lockdown is going to be the answer in the long-term.
“I think we underestimate how much social contact really is an essential part of life. The fact that people haven’t been able to see people – and some people haven’t seen relatives for a long time – is really damaging psychologically,” he commented.
He called the government’s decision to ban worship a “shame”, saying that Potter’s House had spent a lot of time ensuring they were Covid-safe and rebuilding trust. Now they “have to go through the whole process again, rebuilding that momentum,” he said.
The decision to ban communal worship has also been criticised by a number of religious groups, including the Catholic Church and the Muslim Council of Britain.
Gorman said he will ensure this Remembrance Sunday on the 8 November is a “special time” with a live-streamed service.
Looking ahead, he said that “Christmas is going to be a challenge” and that they’ve had to scale back everything, including cancelling their traditional children’s play.
