Daniel French

Vicars like me are struggling in lockdown

(Getty images)

A year of living through a pandemic has taken its toll on the best of us. Vicars like me are no exception. 

As a healthy and normally upbeat 52-year-old, this feeling of gloom is frighteningly new. Anecdotal stories from clergy friends tell a similar story to my own: the urge is to curl up and mask the misery with binge marathons of Netflix box sets. But this brings only short-term relief. A cursory look at social media posts show that a good number of vicars are struggling to keep it together. 

The pressures on vicars come from every quarter. Some vicars have been landed with the impossible task of maintaining empty churches as elderly volunteers withdraw to shield or isolate. I know one vicar who seems to have doubled up as a cleaner, flower captain, gardener, painter and a handyman, up ladders fixing broken windows. The likelihood is that community projects in some churches, food banks for example, are being carried by the incumbent alone. This is a recipe for burnout.

The liturgical and worship element of our vocation is also vastly reduced. Even those of us who are keen on keeping public worship going know that the majority of our flock are reluctant to leave home. An enormous amount of energy in committee meetings was given last year to make churches and worship Covid compliant to the gold standard. These hallowed places are more sterile than any Silicon Valley microchip factory. Yet despite churches being relatively safe, attendance remains low. I don’t blame those who would rather stay at home, of course. But it’s still disheartening to see so few turn up.

The pressures on vicars come from every quarter.

For many vicars like me, morale is further dented by a suspicion that theological absolutes – those things that make up the core beliefs of a Christian – are being forgotten in response to the pandemic.

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