Carolling’s on the cards this Christmas as Salford church takes sermons online

Rept0n1x, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

A Salford Church has used Zoom to stay connected with churchgoers, holding online sermons for the first time since the church was built in 1635.

Sacred Trinity Church, which has moved Church services online since March, has also been holding online quizzes in an attempt to bring their congregation together during these trying times.

Rector Andy Salmon explained: “When we went into full lockdown we were obviously not allowed to do anything in the church.

“The advice to us was ‘lock the church building up and walk away’, I wasn’t supposed to go into the church unless it was essential,”

He continues: “What we did the very first Sunday we were in lockdown, we were all having panics and looking around for how we could do things… we decided we could gather people on Zoom.

“We’ve not looked back really, because people have really, really appreciated it and it’s worked out reasonably well for us.”

Since then, Mr Salmon has been uploading weekly sermons to create some access for churchgoers who can’t go to the church in-person due to the pandemic.

We’re almost Advent ready!!🎁

⭐️REMEMBER⭐️ Our photo competition starts tomorrow and you could win some amazing prizes!! #sacredsalford #competition

Let us know if you’ve entered in the comments 🙌

We’ve also set up our Nativity under the altar 👼

Take a quick look 👀⬇️ pic.twitter.com/mwhL2ecXLW

— Sacred Trinity Church (@sacredsalford) November 30, 2020

“In July or August, we were allowed to go back into church… but there’s so many restrictions on what we can do, that most people prefer to meet on Zoom,” Mr Salmon says. “Church is about our relationship with God, about receiving help and seeking to follow God, but it’s very much a communal thing as well.”

New guidelines have said that although they can’t sing in the church if they were to hold in-person sermons, people will be allowed to sing carols outside.

“One of the apartment blocks near us has said ‘would you come and sing for us?’” Mr Salmon mentions, “people need a bit of comfort and joy at this time.”

To get involved with Sacred Trinity Church,  find them on Facebook and Twitter @SacredSalford.