Coronavirus has closed our doors, not our hearts

In our Welcome to First Rathfriland post, we tried to set out for you a flavour of who we are as a church family. As you are well aware Coronavirus restrictions have changed church life in a way that had never been dreamt of. No-one really thought the day would come when all our church doors would be closed on a Sunday. 

This is the announcement I made to our congregation on 18th March 2020 by Facebook Live to inform them of the changes that needed to be implemented. Our last service in First Rathfriland Presbyterian Church was on Sunday 15th March 2020.

First Rathfriland Presbyterian Church Closed

Our church doors have been closed to safeguard our community and to help reduce the spread of the Coronavirus and therefore help to save lives. This has meant that we have had to adjust to a very different way of doing ministry.

We have written to each family connected with our congregation and they, in turn, have been contacted by their District Elder. The Rev Boyd is connecting with people each week to check that families are coping with the restrictions. If you need pastoral or practical help you can contact the Rev Boyd using the email address: trevorboyd@1strathfriland.co.uk.

Our hearts are open for worship. Worship broadcasts are being published through our YouTube Channel and released each Sunday morning at 11.30am through Facebook and WhatsApp to help maintain the weekly rhythm of worship and sense of Sunday being Sunday. This is an example of a Sunday morning broadcast.

Our hearts are open to our young people. Sunday School has been very proactive in doing a short Sunday School on YouTube with worksheets and resources attached through the Facebook page. To date, young people have been learning about Noah and the Ten Commandments. Christian Endeavour, Boys Brigade, and Girls Brigade have all closed down until September or until they can re-open depending on government guidelines.

Our hearts are open to our business community. Acknowledging that business faces a difficult path forward we want to demonstrate that we have a heart for our local businesses. We have introduced a Business Lunchtime Talk. In real life, our aspiration is to invite people to our church hall for a 20-minute talk along with free soup and a sandwich. This is an opportunity to meet like-minded people and apply a Biblical lens to business life. Currently, we are studying the leadership skills of Nehemiah and applying them to the modern-day business environment. Our strapline is, "Putting the Bible back into Business." 

Our hearts are open to prayer even though our prayer meetings have become personal times of prayer and we have used our Midweek slot to introduce teaching via Youtube broadcasts from a variety of speakers.

Our hearts are open to our town as we still strive to get pedestrians and drivers to ponder the message of our Wayside Pulpit which displays a variety of posters examples of which you can see below. 

     

Our hearts are open to reaching out to the young people of our local community through a fortnightly activity in Lissize Park and a Holiday Bible Club in August. Our Community Outreach Coordinator Mark Annett has been heading up this work but sadly that work has been suspended at present and we will keep you posted on whether it is possible to hold a Holiday Bible Club in 2020 or not. Below is a photo of Mark getting all set for Holiday Bible Club in 2019.

Below Mark getting all set for Holiday Bible Club in 2019.

Since our doors have been closed our Music Coordinator Andrea Magill has organized some musical items each week by members of our congregation. Not only do we enjoy listening to the hymns as they appear on our Facebook page but we are also learning about the words and meaning behind them. One of those items was What a Friend We Have in Jesus by the Bronte Family on their flutes.

Our hearts are open to learning from God and the Bible and so we encourage you to study the words of Scripture while our hearts are open and our doors are closed so that we may grow deeper in our faith. Currently, many people have fears and questions about life, death, and coronavirus. We would like to recommend to you a book by John Piper called Coronavirus and Christ.

Remember Coronavirus has closed our doors but God has opened our hearts to continue sharing the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Stay safe and keep in touch with us or if we can help send us a message or prayer request trevorboyd@1strathfriland.co.uk

This is what our church looks like inside and when the doors are open again we will have space for you!