Guidance on weddings and baptisms during the current period of restrictions on public gatherings to combat coronavirus has been updated by the Church of England.

The House of Bishops COVID-19 recovery group has shared draft guidelines for when funerals, weddings, baptisms and individual private prayer can recommence in church buildings.

All Church of England churches are to close with immediate effect in an effort to help save lives by limiting the transmission of the coronavirus COVID-19.

The Church of England is preparing to take the church into people’s homes – through TV screens, laptops, computers and mobile phones – ahead of the first Sunday without public worship.

Bishop Stephen Geoffrey Cottrell will be confirmed as the 98th Archbishop of York at 11am on Thursday 9 July 2020, in an online service.

The Church of England has published new advice to help parish churches and cathedrals prepare to reopen their buildings for public worship after more than three months of lockdown because of the coronavirus.

The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, has called the Church of England to “learn afresh how to share the gospel in the world” as church and society face “turbulent times” in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York are calling for Church of England churches to put public worship on hold and become a “different sort of church”.

The diocese of London is still alive and active but must close buildings in London.

England’s cathedrals continue to play a huge role in the worship, heritage, and civic life of the country according to the latest figures from the Church of England.