In a rare speech in the States this week, the Very Rev Mike Keirle described limiting numbers in church to just 20 as a ‘blunt instrument’ which was ‘not backed up by medical evidence’.
He called it ‘ludicrous’ that he could visit a restaurant containing more than 80 people, but the following day could attend a church service limited to just 20 in a building five times the size with social distancing and other measures in place to safeguard the congregation.
Following the Dean’s intervention in the debate, Deputy Renouf has offered a meeting to discuss the position.
Mr Keirle, who has a voice but not a vote in the States as the Dean of Jersey, emphasised that he was speaking in the Assembly on behalf of all church and faith groups, not just the Church of England.
‘By and large when I do speak in the States I get messages of support from other faith communities and I do tend to consult them first. In this case their views came in before I asked them. I didn’t have to ask,’ he said.
He added that the church supported the government in its approach to fighting the coronavirus but wanted to have a conversation in order to increase the understanding of each other’s position as it related to the reduction from 40 to 20 in the number allow to attend public gatherings.
‘We’re trying to work with this, but we think there’s an issue of consistency of policy and that was my point. It was lack of consistency. When you are trying to make policy on the hoof it’s difficult and the result may be that it doesn’t play out as one expects it to across the board,’ Mr Keirle said.
He also told the JEP that being able to attend religious services was an important factor in the mental wellbeing of many Islanders, particularly those who otherwise found it difficult to mix with others.
‘We’re human beings and we’re designed to be a community, but during lockdown that was difficult. The first Sunday we came out of lockdown was the most incredibly moving experience of being in church – people were literally in tears to be back,’ he said.
Mr Keirle is the subject of today’s Saturday Interview on page ten.
