St. Peter's Church, Shipley

This is my spiritual home (well, this and the great outdoors). It's St. Peter's Church, Shipley, looking rather nice in the winter sunshine. Sadly the pandemic has caused mayhem with our regular worship pattern, though the staff team and many within the congregation have worked really hard to hold things together. Initially, during the first lockdown, they rapidly switched to services recorded in their own homes and delivered, by various magic tricks, online. It then became possible to use the church for recordings and then a small number of the congregation were able to gather for services, with very strict protocols. I haven't been attending, mainly because I'm so deaf that I can't tell a word anyone says when they are wearing a face mask - and of course the use of face masks has been mandatory. That doesn't mean I've been 'absent' though, since I've been able to follow the services online and I'm also involved in our church-based neighbourhood support scheme, which has of course expanded and been well used during the last year. 

Many people, including our children's worker, have been active in taking church out to the community in various ways. As well as many activities online, a tree in the church grounds has been decorated over Advent in the old tradition of a Jesse Tree, journeying through the Bible stories in Jesus' family tree and hanging symbolic ornaments on the Jesse Tree.

There's also been a Nativity Trail for children to follow, which starts at the Vicarage and ends at church, with various characters in the nativity story being introduced. 

It will be nice one day to get back to 'normal' as a church family though. Hopefully we will!