How Sheffield's religious groups are praying during lockdown

Hundreds of thousands of followers of the Christian, Islamic and Jewish faiths in Sheffield will be finding new ways to worship during the coronavirus lockdown.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

With several major religious festivals either under way or fast approaching, many people across the world are getting creative in order to celebrate while in isolation.

Office for National Statistics figures show that Sheffield was home to 264,348 Christians in 2018, the most recent year with available data.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

They will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus after his crucifixion on Easter Sunday (April 12).

Religious groups across Sheffield are adapting to the lockdown.  (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)Religious groups across Sheffield are adapting to the lockdown.  (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Religious groups across Sheffield are adapting to the lockdown. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

On its website, the Church of England says: “While worship in our churches is suspended, our joy in the resurrection is not to be silenced.”

An Easter Day service led by the Archbishop of Canterbury will be broadcast on Facebook, while more than 1,000 church leaders across the country will also host live streams.

The figures also show that there were 39,574 Muslims living in Sheffield in 2018.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The holy month of Ramadan begins on April 23. Muslims fast from dawn until sunset during this time, and would usually then gather with family and friends in the evening for the Iftar meal, when the fast is broken.

The Muslim Council of Britain has prepared an information “toolkit” to provide advice during the Covid-19 outbreak.

It says: “Many community groups are exploring alternative ways of keeping connected, including live streaming services, community radio stations and hot iftar meal drop-offs to neighbours.”

The 2,265 members of Sheffield’s Jewish community began celebrating the festival of Passover on Wednesday (April 8), which will last until April 16.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Passover – or Pesach – is a time when Jewish people commemorate Moses leading the Israelites out of slavery in ancient Egypt.

The Movement for Reform Judaism has posted an online version of the Haggadah – the text that recounts the Jewish liberation from slavery – on its website.

It has also written guidelines for people who want to use the video conferencing service Zoom for virtual religious services.

Its website says: “We are alongside all of our communities throughout this difficult and unprecedented time.”