Annual Report for Christ the Rock Ministries For the Year Ending 30[th] June 2021 By Pastors David & Sandra French
As is usual, our church year spanned two calendar years. Our theme for calendar 2020 was ‘ The Year of Divine Measure ’ and our theme verse was Ephesians 4:13b ‘mature people reaching to the very height of Christ’. Our theme for calendar 2021 was ‘ A Year to Know God ’ and our theme verse was Daniel 11:32 ‘but the people who their God will be strong and take action’. All this made sense once Coronavirus emerged. Many churches experienced huge loss of attendance and struggled to adapt to the changes that lockdown brought, most notably periods when meeting was prohibited by emergency laws. With the threat of the virus and such dramatic changes and challenges it appeared that the end of all things might at hand!
Our new church year began on 1[st] July 2021, already several months into the first wave of lockdown, due to COVID-19 that had begun in mid-March. From July we began to bring in a studio team to our premises in Leegate on Sundays so that we could have a live Zoom broadcast.
A Zoom broadcast in July 2020 from our premises in Leegate
We had been adapting for a few months by the time our 19[th] anniversary service arrived in July 2020. Our studio teams were broken into Team A and Team B covering alternate weeks so that if a team member from one team became infected with Covid then other team would lead until that team became Covid free.
Pastor Mark Paul at our 19[th] Anniversary Sister Keisha Thompson’s Baptism
Services resumed for a short while before the second lockdown. Then they continued online for a few months with the church finally regathering in the late Autumn for a short while when restrictions lifted again before the third and hopefully final lockdown in January 2021. During this period our technical expertise for broadcasts grew. Sadly, we had not kept a video catalogue of our praise and worship and so we streamed praise and worship from other churches and artists during our online services. We did manage to produce one praise and worship song by remote participation of our team. It involved each of them synchronising to a beat track that was then time-lined to synchronise tracks that were mixed together. This single song took a whole day to produce and so it did not appear to be a practical way of solving our problem.
Remote recorded worship track Production of worship
Pastoral work in person was practically stopped by the pandemic as social distancing rules discouraged or often prohibited close personal contact. Pastor David did manage to meet online with other Lewisham pastors, who with the support of local MP, Janet Daby, and in the aftermath of the George Floyd protests we discussed issues of racial equality and how churches had been adapting to the ongoing challenges of the pandemic.
Call with Lewisham Church Leaders chaired by Pastor David
Facemask moments: Ps David; Ps Mike White; Ps David Brown; Adanna: Ps Sandra
Several of our regular calendar events were axed due to Covid and these includes:
-
Our church outing
-
Our Culture Day
-
Our Sports Day
Our key crossing over (New Year’s eve) and Easter services were held as ‘hybrid services’ where there were options to either attend in person or remotely via Zoom.
Lockdown led to a growth in the number of services, particularly prayer meeting where the frequency moved from bi-monthly to weekly with a
significant increase in attendance. In, September Pastor David ministered for a joined-up Men’s Group from several churches.
By the third lockdown, the studio team running services began to feel somewhat normal. We also realised that the hybrid of online and in person options would likely continue even after all restrictions had finally been lifted.
The studio became more normal as did social distancing
One of our members had a notable success when his club, Milldean FC, won the London Sunday League, Pastor David was present to celebrate the occasion.
Ricardo George after the match
In May 2020 we became aware that people were dying in India due to a lack of protective facemasks or wearing facemasks that had grown mould that then led to infection. We were able to work with partners in India to donate 10,000 face masks and have them distributed widely amongst the poor.
Rural distribution of facemasks in India
Facemasks for Bishop John at Leper’s Colony in Kakinada
In summary, 2020/21 was a challenging year for the church and every one of its members. We had church members who were hospitalised due to Covid-19 as well as members who continued to serve the community working in intensive care; community care; essential services; government and volunteering at a food bank.
We trust that the challenges we have faced together will make us more united and stronger to face the considerable challenges that still lie ahead.
David French
Sandra French
Pastor David French
Pastor Sandra French