Grace Baptists think out of the box and into the car park
What did you do for your Christmas carol service, with the public seeing church buildings as a Covid danger zone? The pandemic has made us think outside our buildings, and many churches have responded creatively.
Jim Sayers, AGBC(SE)
For their carol service in 2020, Highbury Baptist Church in North London went outside into Highbury Fields, Islington’s largest green space. With a makeshift PA, two violins and a guitar, a small group of people and a table of giveaway books, it wasn’t a big gathering. Phil Heaps, co-pastor at Highbury Baptist, said: ‘There were many people out and about, and a good number stopped to listen.’ They repeated this in 2021. ‘Certainly, there remains a general goodwill towards carol singing in our increasingly hostile society, and we intend to do it again next year.’
