Hucknall church to hold service next month to remember those who died during the pandemic

A Hucknall church will hold a service of remembrance and reflection next month which will give people a chance to remember loved ones who passed away during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Watnall Road Baptist Church will hold the service on Sunday 5 December.

It will be a community occasion, involving other churches in the town and will be open to people of all faiths and no faith.

Speaking to Hucknall Nub News, Reverend Simon Robinson, the lead minister of the church said: "Our seniors' worker, Debbie Pindura, she was really concerned for people who hadn't been able to go to funerals and mark someone's passing.

"She came to me recently and it was really the first available occasion getting towards the end of the year, things seem to be somewhat settled, and we knew we could definitely put something on.

"What we're planning to do is have is a little act of remembrance, they can have a tree and they can put something on the tree to remember them. Just a little act of remembrance like that, people find helpful, and we wanted just to provide that, giving that framework as a service to reflect, as they get towards Christmas."

Asked about what he'd say to people who don't regularly attend church but are interested in the event, he said: "It'll be really accessible, so we want people to feel comfortable. We've got some nice reflective music, we've even got Mumford and Sons, a really lovely song by Mumford and Sons that we'll be playing, that people will sit and listen to, so they won't be required to sing.

"We will have prayers but they will be led from the front and people can listen to them and take note of them. We've also got nice poems by people like Christina Rosetti and some nice readings. There'll be a smorgasbord of things for them."

Asked about the difficulties of church leadership during the pandemic, Reverend Robinson said: "It's been quite a challenge because the key thing I want to do as a church leader is actually get among people and get alongside people.

"The most frustrating part has been having all the lockdowns when you're confined to doing it by phone or doing it via Zoom. What we want to do as a church is we want to be with people and make space.

"We're really happy now we've got our coffee shop open again and that's an opportunity just for people to be with us and just sit with them and chat with them. We wanted to make safe spaces for people to breathe and recover, we have our renewal wellbeing work. Also this (the service and the church being open again) we hope will be a beginning to help people on the path of grief."

For further information about the service of remembrance and reflection, click here.