UP CLOSE with the Hadleigh United Reformed Church and the Ansell Centre one year on from the first lockdown and the Reverend Bryn Rickards and Church secretary Claire Coster tell us of difficulties they have overcome and the challenges they face today.

There is a cartoon doing the rounds which shows while the buildings have been closed, the church is open and the the work done by the Hadleigh United Reformed Church (HURC) epitomised that as well as any establishment.

Bryn, a United Reformed Church minister, quickly established three main ways of worshipping during the three and they have run in all three lockdown periods periods:

An online service via the HURC website – with video clips, hymns and worship songs, audio files, child-friendly activities and even livestreaming of Holy Communion. There is also the opportunity after the service to 'meet' for a chat via Zoom.

For those unable to access the website, they have distributed paper copies of the service and CDs. (youngsters ask your parents). Overall, the HURC has seen a positive reaction to the varied ways for people to get involved and that bodes well going forward.

"We have probably seen an increase in the number of people worshipping, and from further away, which has been encouraging," said Bryn. "We have asked people if they would like the alternative means of worshipping to continue, along with in person services, and there was a positive reaction to the suggestion.

"We have to recognise of course that not everyone has online facilities that is what it has been important to have the paper service sheets and the CDs.

"Although it has been strange and sometimes difficult to worship in these ways, it has also been a blessing. The online approach to worship has enabled us to provide services with a greater flexibility and choice in worship and some who were no longer able to attend in person on Sunday mornings have been reconnecting with us online."

The end of the first lockdown gave HURC a clear template for how they can move forward if the current roadmap stays in place, with Easter, arguably that holiest of times rivalling Christmas, the target.

Bryn said: "Outside of lockdowns, we've been able to try new things. In the summer, before resuming public worship on Sundays, we trialled a mid-week service as we took our first steps in creating a 'covid-secure' environment. And when we returned in person on Sundays, we started having two services – one at 10am in the church and the other in the Ansell Centre at 11am, which was more interactive and family-focused. Both of these worked well.

In terms of serving others, many in the church immediately got stuck in to local community projects like 'Hadleigh Cares' as well as providing pastoral and practical support to those within our congregation.

In recent weeks, we've been glad to offer our premises for initiatives that serve the town community: Just Food, one of the foodbanks in Hadleigh, has started to use one of our rooms as a base for their work. And the Community Room at the back of the main church building is now being hired as a covid-19 lateral flow testing centre from Mondays to Fridays.

Like many Bryn would like to see a more harmonious approach to helping the community and its needs but added: "We support Just Food, the Hadleigh Foodbank Charity and FIND.

"While it would be ideal for the two Hadleigh food banks to work together as one, we understand it is a complex situation and we do not take sides. It is about serving the community in the best way we all can."

As with most institutions, over the last year HURC has seen a significant decline in income – mostly due to the loss of room hire. Leading Lives, a group supporting vulnerable adults, has decided to permanently withdraw their services from Hadleigh (Hadleigh Inclusion Project).

Bryn admitted: "We are concerned about the clients and how their needs will be met locally. Leading Lives rented a room in our Ansell Centre as their office and hired the hall for three days a week.

"So, we are now using the current lockdown to think about how we might 'relaunch' the Ansell Centre and encourage its use by the local community, especially those who are struggling or vulnerable.

"When the Ansell Centre was renovated about 15 years ago it has always been our intention that this building serve the wider community. This is why the Ansell Centre Charity was formed – and we look forward to the resumption of all their initiatives: the lunch clubs, the Memories Café and the Cinema. But the current hiatus in use gives us the opportunity to consider how community engagement could be furthered."

Despite the positive of reaching people online, HURC recognise that the regular congregation will be smaller when we all return to 'normal'. A number of deaths over the last year, added to the loss of those in leadership and service roles of people who have needed to step back due to age or other commitments, has created its own issues.

Bryn said: "Church life 'post-pandemic' will be different. But we trust God and look forward to building on the positives as well as exploring with each other and with the community how we can address the challenges.

HURC is not not exempt from the financial realities facing individuals and businesses after the year of disruption and church secretary Claire has had to manage the difficulties, with albeit with some well placed support.

"It got to a point last June when we realised the difficulties we faced," said Claire. "Bryn wrote to all our worshippers and they were incredibly generous in their response.

"We employe an administrator who we were able to furlough, and the Church made up the difference. The Church has been extremely supportive and along with our with and God's provision we have been able to manage."

The church has been used as a Covid testing booked until the end of March, and that may be extended, which is something of a God send in more ways than one.

Claire said: "One of the extra benefits having the rapid flow Covid testing site is more people are seeing the inside of the church, even though it is section off in places, many will be coming inside for the first time.

"When we do return we will be looking at a couple of hours during the day when people will be able to come in and reflect. We also hold private prayer sessions when people can come in and use that time for quiet reflection."

So, like everyone else today, while it has been a time of reflection and sympathy for all the Hadleigh residents who have lost there loves, and gratitude to everyone who has helped in their own way, the HURC have taken on the challenges of the difficulties that lay ahead and have sucked every positive they can.

Bryn and Claire are determined the Hadleigh United Reformed Church will move forward, and will continue to serve not just its own Church congregation, but the wider community through the Ansell Centre.

To go to a service, book a room, or the hall or just find more information go to the HURC website here...

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