Northampton rector to live stream church services as public worship cancelled

The cancellation of public worship and a decline in worshippers over the past two weeks at All Saints Church has caused one rector to think outside the box.

Father Oliver Coss, will be taking to the camera every day to make sure his congregation can access daily services online as the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Northamptonshire has risen to 12.

As of today, All Saints Church held its last public service at 12.30 noon. It comes as The Church of England has suspended all public worship, as of 1.30pm.

In compliance with the archbishops' advice, All Saints Church services will be halted but discussions are ongoing around whether it's feasible to leave the church open for prayer.

Father Coss said: "What we will be aiming to do is to carry on with prayer behind closed doors and maybe broadcast online and make sure we can reach most people through the internet and for those we can't reach we will make sure we can get in touch with them in another way."

For the first time, on Sunday, All Saints Church live streamed their core mass service on Facebook, which had more than 400 views, after a decline in half their worshippers.

Many of their worshippers are over 70 years old and have been self isolating as many suffer from respiratory issues.

"It's devestating," he added. "I don't think anyone can remember anything like this ever. We broadcasted our last public service which was at 12.30pm today.

"That went well and people watched that and it will be a question of what we can do now on our online mediums.

"What I would hope to be saying is something everyday will appear online from me."

Previously worshippers were asked to gel their hands on their way into the church and advice was given for church-goers not to recieve communion from the chalice if they were feeling poorly.