In Northern Ireland, one pastor is offering drive-in church services to maintain social distancing
- Northern Ireland has been in coronavirus lockdown since March 23 and has so far recorded 506 casualties
- At Dunseverick Baptist Church, pastor Billy Jones addresses parishioners in their cars from the bed of a potato truck
Families, couples and solitary attendees tuned their radios to an FM frequency, eager to once again hear the words of pastor Billy Jones after a virus enforced hiatus.
“As I preach today the reality is I’m looking at number plates rather than faces,” Jones said before taking to the wooden lectern engraved with the words “God is love”.
“What’s the same is the expectation amongst people to meet with the Lord and to meet with one-another.”
Northern Ireland has been in lockdown since March 23, and the death toll in the British territory stands at 506 according to Department of Health figures. But the region’s devolved government on Monday begun easing the lockdown, starting the slow crawl back to normality for its 1.8 million residents.
Small outdoor gatherings and some outdoor activities are now allowed, and crucially for the congregation at Dunseverick, drive-in events were included.
“They have been hard-won freedoms and it is vital that when you exercise those freedoms you do it in a way that does not put anybody else’s safety at risk,” Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster said. “We must proceed cautiously.”
