Pause for Thought

Revd. Duncan Goldie, Cheap Street United Church

It is a year since the first Coronavirus lockdown and the normal celebration of Easter got cancelled. Since then, we have had further lockdowns and cancellations of a year’s events and our normal celebrations. It is a year in which we have seen many of the community events which bring us together, such as concerts in the Abbey, churches and Pageant Gardens, cancelled, along with Sherborne Castle Country Fair. The hope for this year is that, as vaccination levels rise, the number of those ill and in hospital with Covid 19 will decline to very small levels and that we will, once again, be able to meet with people and participate in the activities we love.

For the churches in the town, as we once again come to the central festival of the Christian year of Easter, when we remember the death of God’s son Jesus on the cross and his resurrection on Easter Sunday, we have to decide whether it is now right to open and meet in our buildings or to continue to meet on Zoom.

As a church, Cheap Street church is looking forward to the reopening of all the remaining shops in Sherborne, not just so we can make a long overdue visit to a hairdresser, but we are personally looking forward to opening a new church and community venture called the Pod, in the premises of 54 Cheap Street on 12th April. It is hoped that this will be a source of help for all the people in Sherborne.

Easter for Christians is the time when God changed everything for all people for all time, through the death and resurrection of Jesus. That change is mirrored in current events and the hoped-for ending of lockdown in carefully managed stages. Coronavirus is unlikely to be eradicated completely, so the need for vaccines to protect us and deal with the virus will become a fact of life, and a vaccination certificate, along with a passport, essential documents when travelling abroad. In the same way the underlying need for Jesus’ death and resurrection is still unfortunately present because of our failure at times to live our lives as we should.

Hopefully, this summer will be remembered for different reasons than the past one! For the days out we are able to enjoy, the visits to places we enjoy, and for time spent with friends and family, without having to be two metres apart, and being able to listen to concerts once more, with the numbers of people infected by Covid 19 so small that it is no longer the main topic of conversation.

As we look forward to the future, it is good to give thanks for those who have helped us get through in the recent past, especially the NHS and care workers, and those not fortunate enough to have come through the Covid pandemic.

cheapstreetchurch.co.uk