Look, I am doing a new thing! 

'Look, I am doing a new thing! now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and stream in the wasteland.' Isaiah 43:19 

We are tentatively emerging from the latest set of Covid-19 restrictions. We are not going back to normal because the future will be a new normal, significantly different from what we may imagine was the pre-Covid-19 normal. The threat of Covid-19 and its mutations will be with us for the foreseeable future. There is currently concern about how the Government will suggest we manage our responses to the emerging threat of the ‘Indian C-19’ variant. We may have to slow down the timetable for relaxing C-19 restrictions.   

London is no stranger to devastating plagues. In 1665 the Great Plague of London killed thousands. Those who survived emerged into a different kind of London. Many tradespeople died in the plague. There was a significant skills shortage across London as there will be as we emerge into the new normal.

In 1666 the Great Fire of London destroyed huge areas of London, including areas where plague residues may have remained. This disaster created many opportunities for a reset of London, enabling Sir Christopher Wren to build many new churches. Likewise, there will be many opportunities for growth and development in post-C-19 and post Brexit. Many people could retrain to do jobs they may never have envisaged themselves doing prior to the global pandemic.

Christian communities are living in the heart of many of the worst affected areas of London, including the poorest and those with high crime rates. The opportunities for service are manifold. Jesus said ‘the fields are ready to harvest, but the labourers are few.'