The vicar of St Peter’s Church in Loudwater has revealed that he wants ‘to serve our whole community regardless of faith,’ following the second lockdown.

The Treadaway Hill venue has been doing everything they can to help the people in the village during the pandemic, by producing online services on their YouTube page, to getting in touch with charities to offer support to the elderly, vulnerable and needy.

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And with the second lockdown in place, Danny Rodgers, who became the church’s vicar on November 13, is hoping to support people regardless of their religious background.

Speaking exclusively to the Free Press, he said: “We are aware of the struggles that people are going through.

“Poverty could be on the increase, people are losing their jobs, so as a church, we want to be at the forefront of helping our community.

“One thing we are focusing on this side before Christmas, is partnering with One Can Trust in becoming a food bank distribution point for the charity for the people of Loudwater.

“We are aware that some families are struggling in Loudwater and during half-term, we helped feed 15 children who would have been legible to a free school meal.

“So, we want to do everything we can to help the people of Loudwater and demonstrate the love of Jesus in our community.

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“We want to be a church that is welcoming to not just to people who are already followers of Jesus, or have some sort of Christian faith, but as a Parish Church of Loudwater, we want to serve our whole community regardless of faith.

“We are here for them.”

Due to the current restrictions, the church will more than likely not be able to hold a service in the building until Sunday, December 6.

This brings an end of eight consecutive weeks of holding services in the church after they reopened on September 13.

However, despite the second lockdown of the year, the church has got an online Remembrance Day service that will be streamed on November 8 at 10am, which is available to watch on their YouTube page.

They also have got plans for Christmas, regardless of the pandemic.

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Danny continued: “Like everyone else, we are not unaffected by the announcement regarding lockdown.

“On Sunday, December 20 at 6.30pm, we will be doing a carol by candlelight online service, which is recorded - but we are going to ask people to get involved.

“We are going to start up our very own carols by candlelight starter pack, where we are going to make hundreds of bags with candles, hymn sheets, mulled wine ingredients, and information about the church and our new vision.

“We hope people can collect these from the church if they want to enjoy the service from home.”

And due to the pandemic, the church created an initiative called Love Loudwater, which was launched to help the people who live in the village get through the crisis.

He continued: “We are aware with the second lockdown, there will be people who are lonely, anxious, struggling with mental health issues and while we don’t claim to be mental health professionals, we would love to offer support to anyone in our community.

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“We have sensed that God has been speaking to us as a church, and we are here to demonstrate the love of Jesus by being a source of spiritual hope.

“God has been speaking to us through lockdown about our sense of mission and for our purpose and that we’re here to love our community and the people of Loudwater.”

For more information, visit www.stpetersloudwater.org or visit their YouTube page. 

Additionally, an ex Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire and the Chairman of Buckinghamshire Council has revealed what people can do this Sunday for Remembrance Day.

Joe Bradshaw MVO has created a list of ideas that residents can do under the current guidelines that have been set up by the Government.

He said: "As a result of Covid-19 restrictions, it may be necessary for individuals and communities to consider new ways of performing remembrance activities.

To give you a helping hand, we've put together a wide range of suggested Covid safe activities that are inexpensive to create:

  • Hold a small Remembrance service in your garden.
  • Create a Remembrance space in your garden by planting plants that have a connection to Remembrance.
  • Use Zoom, Facebook or another online meeting resource to host an online Remembrance service or activity.
  • Set up a community Remembrance forum to discuss different residents’ Remembrance stories.
  • Create an online exhibition of Remembrance related photos from local residents that schools or others could use to discuss local Remembrance activities.
  • Do an online interview with a local veteran or someone currently serving to discuss what service and sacrifice means to them. You could send people the link and create an online audience.
  • Open an online book of Remembrance that family, friends and others can sign as a mark of Remembrance.
  • Write letters of Remembrance to veterans or serving personnel.
  • Use the RBL Remembrance education activities to help children learn about Remembrance.
  • Create your own Remembrance art piece using our teaching resources – children and families could be asked to display something in their window like the rainbows for the NHS.