"Home church" service?

[AyDeeAitchDee]

Before I grass on them.....

One of my neighbours frequently has a few families over for a Sunday churchy thing at their house.

Is this now illegal (more than 6 of them. Kids make a bloody racket outside while the parents are doing whatever is it they do indoors)

Or am I wasting my time grassing them up as they can claim it's worship?

The guidance for places of worship, here:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-for-the-safe-use-of-places-of-worship-during-the-pandemic-from-4-july/covid-19-guidance-for-the-safe-use-of-places-of-worship-during-the-pandemic-from-4-july

specifically says that a private house has to abide by the rules for private houses, even if used for worship.

It might be rather more neighbourly to ask them nicely if they are aware of this, rather than "grassing them up" though? Or at least trying that approach first?

Ah fabulous!

That's all I needed. Thanks.

And this neighbour doesn't deserve being spoken to nicely.

Swears out the window at my kids. Parties at gone 11pm. Screaming outside any hour. Etc etc.

Is it part of an official church (ie registered with charity commission) or just an informal gathering of religious people? If it’s the latter, then it’s definitely not legal as anyone could just set up a “church” party. If the former, well, churches can still meet but I’m guessing they need to operate in a “Covid-secure way”, whatever that is.

Churches can meet. Under certain Covid safe restrictions.

Max 30 people attending
Names addresses and phone numbers taken for the track and trace people
No singing or wind instruments allowed
People must sit 2m away from each other and wear masks/ face coverings at all times
No communion and no tea and biscuits or chat before during or after the service
No using the toilet
And designated people to clean chairs /door handles/ lectern etc with disinfectant wipes

Are they doing all this op?

It specifically says, in the guidance I linked to above, that churches can only meet in a building set apart for that purpose. If they're in a community hall or house they have to follow the guidance for that type of building.

Wow there's a lot of misinformation on this thread. There is no limit on the numbers who can attend church and all of the guidance about behaviour etc is just that, guidance.

The op's neighbours are clearly in breach because the rule of 6 is a legal requirement now. Anybody attending church without a mask or singing is NOT in breach though they are very unwise and most of not all churches have issued guidance in line with government recommendations.

@AyDeeAitchDee

Ah fabulous!

That's all I needed. Thanks.

And this neighbour doesn't deserve being spoken to nicely.

Swears out the window at my kids. Parties at gone 11pm. Screaming outside any hour. Etc etc.

Jesus. These arseholes run a church?

I'd say there's quite a lot of good information on this thread, apart from one poster who writes something about it being illegal when they mean "against the guidance".

Churches should want to protect their neighbours - neighbours in every sense - and lead by example.

And I think quite a lot of us are using "illegal" at the moment when we mean "against the guidance". We know that really if we stop and think but we're often too busy tapping away on our keyboards 😉