Churches during relaxation of lockdown – II

The first post in this series, Churches during relaxation of lockdown, considered the rights of entry, seating, and forms of worship in relation to the House of Bishops’ phased approach to revising access to church buildings in line with the government’s lifting of restrictions; also included was a review of the first meeting of the Taskforce on Reopening Places of Worship. The current horizon of this phased approach does not stretch beyond “worship services with limited congregations”, and initially it seems unlikely that this will include music. Nevertheless, the reintroduction of music in some form is under consideration within the Church of England and elsewhere, and was discussed at the recent Royal School of Church Music webinar ‘What next for the Ministry of Music in our Parishes and Dioceses?’.  Continue reading →