Church video highlights life in Lancaster during the Covid pandemic

The work of a Lancaster parish in supporting its community during the pandemic features in a video from The Church of England in Lancashire.
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The video is among several which first featured as part of a recent livestreamed Diocesan conference.

The road trip sequences, presented by Rev Sam Cheesman, the Bishop’s Chaplain, have been edited into separate short films by Jim Cooke of Centreline Films, and the final batch are now available on YouTube.

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In one of the films, Sam visits St Thomas’ Lancaster where he meets Rev Jon Scamman who talks about getting to grips with and understanding all the coronavirus regulations and the impact of the pandemic on church life.

Sam speaks to Rev Jon Scamman at the construction site of St Thomas’ new church centre.Sam speaks to Rev Jon Scamman at the construction site of St Thomas’ new church centre.
Sam speaks to Rev Jon Scamman at the construction site of St Thomas’ new church centre.

Jon said: “We’ve been constantly reworking what we can do as a church: I’ve been hugely heartened by the creativity of the people in our church; the way that people have been able to respond.

"We moved our Sunday services online early in the pandemic and that has attracted a lot more viewers than we would normally have, from much further afield than Lancaster.”

Jon also speaks about ongoing work on the new church centre, which is currently under construction after a major fundraising effort over the last two years.

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Sam also talks in the film to Jeanette Main, St Thomas’ Third Age co-ordinator, about how the church has managed to help people struggling with loneliness and dementia during this year, and St Thomas’s Youth Coordinator Ali Demet, who explores the challenge of keeping in touch with the younger generation of the church family.

Rev Jon Scamman pictured during filming at the construction site of St Thomas’ new church centre.Rev Jon Scamman pictured during filming at the construction site of St Thomas’ new church centre.
Rev Jon Scamman pictured during filming at the construction site of St Thomas’ new church centre.

Jon added: “It was great to be able to tell our stories of part of the church’s outreach to Lancashire over these past months; to be able to reflect on some of the challenges, and unique opportunities which this time has brought to us all.”

Commenting on this and the other road trip films, Rt Rev Dr Jill Duff, Bishop of Lancaster, who chairs the Diocese Online Resourcing Group, added: “The road trip from our #HomeGrown conference was so popular we wanted to have them as separate films and, with this latest batch, once again we get a glimpse of the wonderful work going on every day across our Diocese.

“When I first started as Bishop of Lancaster I would often talk about the ‘hidden treasure’ I was discovering as I travelled around Lancashire. Films like these are a great way to shine a light on each of the jewels that are our many and diverse parishes, schools and chaplaincies.”

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