Dear members and friends of Wealdstone Baptist Church,

Yesterday evening, the Leadership Team met to discuss our response to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) situation. Following the statement by the Government on 17th March, and the advice of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, we have taken the difficult decision to postpone all our church meetings for the present time. This includes Sunday Services, small groups, children and youth activities, Toddlers, CoffeePlus and prayer meetings. We hope and pray that this won’t last very long, but at the moment we cannot tell. We have not taken this lightly. Paul tells us in Romans 13:1 “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God”. We believe it is important to play our part with the rest of society in preventing the unnecessary spread of the coronavirus and to protect those who are most vulnerable in our church and community.

Whilst we are unable to meet physically, we will be doing whatever we can to stay in contact with our members in other ways while we go through this together. We are currently looking at broadcasting something on Sunday morning on the internet in place of the Service and will give more details once we have that arranged, along with any similar things mid-week. We aim to keep in regular contact with everyone via telephone, email and other means. The church staff (Ministers and Administrators) will be doing what work they can from home. Should you want to come to the office, please make an appointment via email (office@w-b-c.org.uk) or through the office phone number (020 8861 1972). The church answerphone will be checked regularly. We are aware that, at times like this, there may be a need in our community for some people to seek help or support from the church and we will be looking at how we might best do that.

Please keep safe. If you or anyone in your household shows any symptoms of having Coronavirus, please follow the newly issued Government guidelines and self-isolate for 14 days. Should you have cause to do this, we urge members of the church family to let us know, so that we can find ways of offering appropriate pastoral support. Remember, the government guidelines are not to stop us meeting, but to help protect the most vulnerable. We might think that we might be ill for a bit and then get over it but the greater concern is that we pass it on to someone, who is more at risk, and then develops a life-threatening health issue.

Lastly, please pray for our country, community and church. In such times of upheaval let’s remember that in Jesus “we have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (Hebrews 6:19).

We will continue to monitor the situation and issue further updates as the situation changes.

On behalf of the Leadership Team.