Coronavirus Updates
23rd February 2022
Firstly, we want to say thank you! It has been far from easy, for all of us, to navigate Covid-19 and everything that has come with it. We appreciate your understanding in that.
As we have said many times before, we’re all working through different thoughts and situations, and it’s important that we keep this in mind, and respect and love each other - lots!
You will be aware that, as of Thursday, the government are lifting all Covid-19 legal restrictions. As Key Leaders, we have decided to remove our ask of people to wear masks, when moving inside and singing – both in our church building and at Orchard School. If anyone prefers to wear a mask, that is, of course, absolutely fine. We will continue to not pass around an offering bag or communion, for now. As always, we are prepared for any of this to change and will adapt accordingly!
During this pandemic we have been challenged to re-think and look at how we actually ‘do’ church family, and not just on a Sunday morning. This is a journey that we want to keep on with! How do we look out for and support each other? How do we build relationships and stay connected? We believe this is something that we can all be a part of, and something we want to be learning to do better.
Just a reminder that you can share practical needs, and prayer requests in our prayer facebook group, or via WhatsApp on +44 7706941283. And this goes both ways, if you have support to offer, let us know!
Please do get in touch if you have any concerns or questions. We want to make church (in all its forms) accessible for everyone. If there are things we can do to help you in that, we will do.
As Jesus’ followers we have opportunities in our day to day lives to be full of His love and grace, and share that with others. This is perhaps more obviously needed today. Let’s pray for and encourage each other as we do this!
Much Love,
Ebe Key Leadership Team
John 13:34
Jesus: So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.
25th January 2022
As you might expect, we have been continuously tracking what’s happening with Covid and how it impacts us gathering together as a community, whether this is in our church building or at Orchard school.
From Sunday 30th January we will ‘go back’ to our previous guidance around mask wearing. We ask that you wear masks while moving around inside, and while singing – unless you are exempt. But while seated, or eating and drinking, wearing a face covering is optional.
We appreciate there are different thoughts and opinions, and we thank you for your understanding. Our priority is to look out for each other, and help each other keep connected as church family as best as we can, in all ways.
We will keep reviewing this on a regular basis and keep you updated as changes are made.
We are still in complicated times, so let’s keep praying for, and supporting each other.
15th August 2021
Watch this video for an update on plans for Sunday gatherings from September onwards…
Find out full details - www.ebe.org.uk/sundayservices
18th July 2021
We wanted to give an update relating to government guidelines changing from 19th July.
Firstly, we are very aware that this is complex, on many levels. As we have said throughout the last 18 months; we are all in very different places, our experiences during the pandemic are varied, and we all have a mix of feelings about future changes and ways forward. We want to work through this together; so let’s try to live full of grace and love, respecting where we may differ, and looking after and out for each other as much as possible!
From Sunday 25th July we begin our usual Summer Sundays period – until Sunday 29th August. Over the summer we want to try to keep things simple and low maintenance so everyone has space for time off!
We have got a new teaching series in ‘The Psalms’ – looking at the unfiltered poems in this Bible book that wrestle with all the ups and downs of faith and real life.
We will be continuing to livestream our online services at 10.30am on a Sunday, these are also available to catch up on at any time after.
Our awesome Children’s Church Leadership team have some great looking plans to gather children and families together over the summer too.
We will be continuing to run our in-person services at our church building at 9.30am.
We want people to feel as safe and comfortable as possible, so we will be taking a careful step by step approach to the lifting of restrictions.
We will ask you to pre-book online so we can keep a track of numbers, and we will initially be restricting this to 50 people so we can keep good space within the building.
We will ask everyone who attends to wear a mask inside as a way of protecting and looking out for others.
Worship will continue to be pre-recorded because of the practicalities of the summer holidays. We will be allowed to sing along though (wearing a mask)!
We will keep sharing communion together - you can bring your own, and we will also have some available.
We are looking to serve tea and coffee outside after our gathering.
This is where we will start from 25th July, and I’m sure you will appreciate that this will change and evolve as we go forward. We will keep you updated as much as possible.
We have missed, and still miss, us all being together. But at the same time so value the technology that has kept us in touch in different ways. We are still in difficult and complicated times, so let’s keep praying for, and supporting each other.
22nd April 2021
Just a reminder that we are planning to start Sunday Services again at our church building from Sunday 9th May, with one service at 9:30am.
Following a year of unprecedented restrictions, we have genuinely missed seeing one another and whilst online provision has been extremely helpful, it cannot really take the place of actually being together in person.
We believe that the situation has changed substantially enough to make gathering together something we can do now:
· Progress continues to be made with the vaccination programme.
· The roadmap out of lockdown is currently on track.
· We are anticipating warmer weather with the approach of summer, a season when the virus seems to impact far less.
We are making small steps to begin with:
· One service on a Sunday morning
· Aiming for the service to be one hour long
· No children or youth provision at this first stage.
As time moves on and as we respond to changing demands and circumstances, there will no doubt be a later step of running more than one service on a Sunday. Beyond that, we will see how we might accommodate more people and reintroduce children and youth groups.
We will take all the necessary precautions, because keeping people well and safe remains a top priority.
· Increased levels of cleaning of the building
· A limit to the number of people attending (anticipated at between 20 and 30 depending on how many households sign up and can be sat together)
· Wearing of masks
· Social distancing
· Clear instructions regarding entering and leaving and moving around the building
· Hand sanitisers available
· Complying with Test & Trace requirements.
We will have a full Covid-19 Risk Assessment in place.
The service itself will be a mix of pre-recorded items on the screen and live presentation. Regrettably, we cannot have congregational singing.
We will still have a full pre-recorded service broadcast online via Facebook and YouTube. Both the live and online services will have the same content.
You may well ask the question “Why are we doing this when only a few can attend”?
Some of us will have felt loneliness and isolation more keenly than others, and this step will be important for our own wellbeing. Some of us will just need a break from the online provision.
Some of us won’t be ready for this for lots of different reasons. The lack of children and youth provision may be an issue.
Having said all this, please do sign up if you want to come. Whilst it is tempting to generously leave a place for someone else, we will never understand the true demand for an ‘in person’ service if you hold back.
Please do check out: www.ebe.org.uk/sundays for more detail, including a helpful set of FAQs.
We may need to change plans and timescales depending on government directives. So, these are our plans for now, but subject to change if necessary.
We hope to see you soon!
Esther, Derek, Stewart & Steve
Update 3 November
In light of the recent announcement around a new national lockdown starting this Thursday, we thought it might be helpful to communicate a few things around how it will impact church.
It has been great to be able to run both in-person and online services over the last month. We have really felt the benefit of being able to gather together in both of these ways. With the new restrictions coming into place this week, we will not be able to gather in person at all, on Sundays, or as small groups using the church building. We realise this will be very disappointing to those who have really valued meeting in person, but we hope that we can continue to work at staying connected and building our community online.
We realise that the thought of another lockdown is a hard one to absorb, and is likely to present us all with new challenges. With that in mind we’ve set up a new email address (covidsupport@ebe.org.uk) specifically for any support you might need, or that you’d like to offer. We’d encourage you to use this if you are struggling in any way, maybe you’d like some prayer or need someone to talk to, maybe you’re self-isolating and need some shopping done. You can also use this email address to offer help, maybe you’re able to get out and do some shopping for someone else, maybe you’re up for having a chat with someone over the phone. Church is family, and we do this better together – please do get in touch, either way.
Christmas!! Yes, I know, it seems like a lifetime away, but we’re already well into planning here! We are SO keen to be sharing Christmas, and the hope and love of Jesus, as church family together, and with our friends and our communities. It is going to look different, but we passionately believe that all the good news of the Christmas story is relevant, and needs to be shared this year, as much as any other.
We had already had discussions around the practicalities of running Christmasservices and decided that we would run our services online. We don’t know where we’ll be at as far as lockdown goes into December, but even as things were it just wasn’t feasible running so many multiple services to accommodate everyone who would usually come. This is disappointing on the one hand, but on the other, we now have so many opportunities to share and connect with people! We have exciting plans around Christingle packs for our community, dusting off the ‘puppets’ archive, getting all the candles out for some carols, and some more besides that. We’ll share more soon!
We will hope to be able to gather again in the new year, but following guidelines, and the safety of everyone is our primary concern. We will keep you updated as and when things might change.
We love and miss you all.
Esther, Stewart, Derek & Steve
May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace as we trust in him, so that we may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15: 13)
Update Monday 11 May
In light of the recent announcements by the government we just wanted to clarify how this will impact how we are currently ‘doing church’. The quick answer is, it won’t!
We will continue to live stream our pre-recorded ‘Children’s Church at Home’, and ‘Sunday Services’ – these are filmed in people’s homes with others in their household, or in our church building with those that use it as key workers. We are very conscious of looking after ourselves, and protecting people around us, of maintaining social distancing, and following necessary precautions.
We will continue to have zoom hang outs after our Sunday services, regular prayer gatherings, and Small Groups will keep connected using various online platforms.
This isn’t easy for any of us! We miss doing all this stuff together as people in the same room. Mostly, we just miss each other, and the awesome weirdness and diversity that is our church family. We look forward to a time in the future where we can do this again. 😊
Please keep in touch, stay connected, and stick close to Jesus.
Jesus says: “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.” John 15: 9
Loads of love from Ebe Key Leadership Team
Updated Friday 27th March
The government announced new guidelines (www.gov.uk/coronavirus) this week to help us look after ourselves and each other, to protect the NHS and save lives.
This advice includes staying at home and only going out when absolutely necessary, social distancing (2 metres) from others, and stopping gatherings of more than 2 people in public.
This is hard, and unlike anything any of us have ever experienced before. Our day to day lives are massively impacted, and we are having to learn new ways to keep connected and look after our wellbeing.
As a church we are continuing to explore what this means for us and how we do church together. We’ll be continuing to live stream services on a Sunday, although we will be pre-recording so that we can stick to the guidelines given. And we’ll be encouraging zoom meet ups after the service, and throughout the week, for praying together and gathering as small groups.
We’ll keep you updated here and via social media.
Please look after yourselves, and remember that as we do that we also look after each other.
Keep your eyes up, stay in touch, and celebrate the good stuff and stories of generosity.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
Updated Wednesday 18th March
We will not gathering as church family on Sunday mornings until further notice but we are looking creative and online ways to meet. Full details will appear HERE soon about our first online service on Sunday.
Updated Tuesday 17th March
Coronavirus Update
We say that church isn’t just a building, but about people, and it is vital during these uncertain times that we continue to be a church family.
However, based on the latest government guidance we recognise it is no longer possible to gather physically, so we have taken the decision to suspend all church gatherings until further notice. This will include all mid-week activities that happen inside and outside the church building, as well as Sunday mornings.
We will be doing all we can to find creative ways to stay connected while we are not able to meet in homes or in the church building. If you are a small group or ministry leader, we will be in touch with some guidance on how to do that.
This page on our website (www.ebe.org.uk/blog/coronavirus-precautions) will be updated regularly, so please check in to see the latest. We will be in touch with a plan to ‘gather’ this coming Sunday!
Prayer Evening – TONIGHT, 8pm – via ZOOM!!
We would like to spend some time praying together tonight, and at the same time trying out a way to do this interactively online.
Please do ‘join us’ at 8pm – 8.40pm as we pray into the Coronavirus pandemic.
On your computer, go to https://zoom.us/j/647694431 and sign to the prayer time together.
Updated Monday 16th March
These are unsettling times. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. As a church we want to be honest about this, to look out for and support each other as we wrestle with what COVID-19 (Coronavirus) means for our physical and our mental health, and how it impacts our friends, families, communities, city and beyond.
There’s a story in the Bible where a guy asks Jesus what the most important ‘rules’ to live by. Jesus tell him there are two things, love God with everything you’ve got, and love your neighbour as yourself. These are really good words to remember.
We want to encourage each other to keep our eyes up, to keep looking to Jesus. And we want to be people who look out for our ‘neighbours’ as much as we look out for ourselves.
Here are four things that might be helpful…
1. PRAY
Pray for our world.
Pray for ours, and others, wellbeing.
Pray for those working in medical professions.
Pray for governments and those in key decision-making positions.
2. FOOD
Consider how you shop. Resist excessive stockpiling and think of others.
Donate to local Foodbanks.
3. VOLUNTEER
We are looking to mobilise church and be creative about how we can be Jesus-like in these times. There might be organisations that are struggling right now for various reasons. You will be able to register your interest to help on this website soon.
4. BE A GOOD NEIGHBOUR
This might be literal, but also let’s remember Jesus means everyone when He tells us to love our neighbour. Are there people on your street who are self-isolating, vulnerable, and might need an offer of some practical help? Who is there in your church family who might be finding this time difficult? Use your phone, give people a call or text, and ask how they are.
Please keep an eye on this page, email and our social media – we will keep you updated as things develop.
God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. (Psalm 46:1)
Updated Sunday 15th March
Footprints (our weekly senior citizen group) has been cancelled for the foreseeable future. However, we are keeping in regular contact with all those who come about how we can support them.
Updated Friday 13th March
Following government advice; anyone with a new persistent cough or a high temperature should self-isolate for seven days, and not attend Church services or activities. Please let us know if we can pray for you and please do use the catch-up sermon facility on the website.
For the time being, we will not be having pre-service refreshments on Sunday morning. This is just a wise precaution with an aim of minimising the risk of cross-contamination given the current situation.
As a leadership, we will continue to closely monitor government advice and will issue any further updates via website and social media.
