A refuge from the storm? The English Church during COVID-19

The UK’s faith communities were significantly affected by the COVID pandemic from its outset, with massively-increased demand for their social and pastoral care services hitting them at a time when their human, physical and financial resources were all severely restricted by national lockdown. Restrictions to public worship were certainly the subject of concern and some protest, but all told, faith communities responded quickly and creatively, taking worship on line, developing innovative welfare practices under pressure and building new collaborative operations which would previously have been difficult to imagine. The changes that the crisis has forced upon the Church in particular, though, are likely to have lasting effect for years to come, with attendance at worship, community leadership and organisational finances all sure to be impacted. In these ways and more, the pandemic will undoubtedly accelerate the speed at which the role of religion in English society is changing, but the effectiveness of the faith response to the crisis suggests that there is plenty of room and energy for positive innovation still in evidence.