As everybody knows, 2020 was an eventful year for many people around the world. It started off quite well. We all carried on 'as normal' for the first couple of months but then gradually became aware of the early signs of a potential pandemic. Here in Audlem, though, what we noticed was some very wet and windy weather, which meant that the work on the renovation of our church building got off to a very slow start. This work had commenced in 2019 and was being carried out by Gareth Hardy, who for many years was an Audlem resident until he moved to Nantwich.

The pandemic became sufficiently serious by the end of March that the whole country went into 'lockdown' for 11 weeks until the end of June. We were not allowed to hold Sunday services during this time and nor were we able to continue with work on the building, which was a pity because the weather by now was always warm, sunny and dry! However, we managed to keep in touch with each other because we took it in turns to create a 'service sheet' as a Microsoft Word document and circulate it by email to our members and friends. This was much appreciated, particularly by those in our normal congregation whose 'underlying health conditions' meant that they needed to shield from the virus.

We were all saddened at the end of March and the beginning of April by three deaths. Judi's sister and brother-in-law both succumbed to Covid-19 within days of each other and died in hospital. This really brought home to us how serious the pandemic was becoming. Then on the Easter weekend our dear friend Ann Cowen died at the great age of 96. She had been a member of the church for more than fifty years. Her death was nothing to do with Covid and, although she died in the local hospital, she had only been there a matter of hours and had Bill and her family with her (or on the phone). Of course, due to the Covid restrictions none of these three people had 'normal' funerals, which made things all the harder for their families.

At the end of June the lockdown restrictions were largely lifted and we were able to resume our Sunday services again, provided we all wore masks, used hand gel and sat at least two metres apart. We were not allowed to sing out loud, but we could listen to the music being played and sing along 'in our heads'. We also had to forgo our usual after-service refreshments, but those who came back were so happy to be able to have real person to person interaction again.

It was not only funerals that were affected by Covid-19, but weddings too. We were delighted when Emma and Tom asked if they could have a much reduced wedding in our church. They felt that they had already postponed their wedding long enough so set a new date of September 26th. The service was restricted to 30 guests - including the registrar and photographer - and everyone had to be two metres apart, but we were all used to that by now. A combination of the rules and the narrowness of the aisles also prevented the bride and her father from walking arm in arm to the front of the church with the congregation already seated. So, instead, the bridal party walked about four hundred yards down the road to the church and then past all the assembled guests outside. There were several things like this that were very different from a normal wedding, but which provided added significance to a wonderful day. The following weekend the government reduced the allowable number of wedding guests from thirty to fifteen.

During the year Gareth managed to do several renovation tasks that were very successful. The church is a listed building within the conservation area, so all work has to be done with great care and attention to detail. The main porch renovation was completed, but of more significance was the other smaller porch to the 'School Room'. This had very distinctive cast iron Tuscan Pillars that dated back to the 1870's but had corroded to such an extent that the flat roof might have collapsed. Gareth managed to source two replacement pillars of a similar age that had been inside a mill building. So the original porch was dismantled, the new pillars installed and then a new roof made out of oak, which is actually of higher quality than the original, but visually the same. The rest of the main frontage was also completely repainted. He had already dismantled and renovated another original feature in 2019 - namely the distinctive cast iron gutters on the south elevation.

Finally he also completed a lovely new Notice Board, again made from oak, which has been admired by many people who walk past the church, as have the two new brick pillars that form the entrance to the church grounds. The inside of the School Room has been repainted, but has hardly been used since then, due to those restrictions again. The renovation work is almost complete but the deteriorating autumn weather put paid to us being able to tick off the last few items on our list, so they will have to wait until 2021.

As the year draws to a close, Audlem finds itself in the tier with the greatest restrictions, but we are glad that this will not prevent us from continuing to meet on a Sunday if we feel able to do so. We know we are not alone. It has been particularly meaningful to share in whole-village live on-line services - the Memorial and Remembrance Services in November and the Carol Service before Christmas. But another casualty of the pandemic was that we could not go to Leighton Hospital and sing carols around the wards. But, of course our hospitals and care homes have been the frontline during this year and we thank God for all those in our community and around the world who have given to the maximum to serve others in 2020.