Chaplaincy House with doors wide open
Donation protected
It sounds like a modern fairy tale, but the story behind Lanzarote’s Anglican Parish approach to open their church to the world and start a new era is true as can be.
While many offer some kind of virtual worship during lockdown, the team around Revd Stan Evans, who was only appointed Chaplain in 2019 for Lanzarote and moved into the small Chaplaincy House together with his wife Rosemary, created something exceptional out of nothing.
It was March 15th, 2020, when Spain announced a complete lockdown. Churches were closed, people anxious and in need of pastoral care, worshipping and hope more than ever.
Fr. Stan’s credo for his church is “Our door is always open – for anyone who wants to join us, no questions asked” – and these doors seemed to suddenly have closed with a bang.
Only one week later, after many hours of brainstorming and exchanging of ideas, with no means at all, the Information Officer and Stan managed to film their first service.
Now, 10 weeks later, their YouTube channel “Anglican Parish Lanzarote” is the go-to for so many all around the globe. It has become a multimedia service, easy to follow, full of hope and common worship. The sermons are being translated into German and Spanish and the entire service is supported by written lyrics and pictures.
Fr Stan and his team opened the door again and even wider.
“You would never imagine how these services were created – It’s not what you have, but what you make of it”, says Information Officer Sunny. “When lockdown started, we were in the midst of finding a new Chaplaincy House as the one we have is definitely not fit for purpose. It wasn’t even possible to find a corner big enough to film the service there and we weren’t allowed to use the church. So we chose my living room as the place to record, as it has huge curtains and a space big enough to keep 2m distance.
We didn’t have any equipment – no microphones, no video camera, no lighting… but we had a vision.”
“We are small and weak instruments but through us God can do great things.
Lockdown is slowly easing in Spain but church services – as we know them – aren’t possible for the next months and it would be too dangerous for many to attend.”
“Thanks be to God we have finally found a property we will buy as our new Chaplaincy House! Accessible for wheelchairs, plenty of space indoors and outdoors, parking, room to gather, pray, worship and have a good time together. Depending on when we can purchase it and make the move, one of our summer Living Room services might well be brought to our friends from there.” says Fr. Stan with a smile.
If you see him, you know he is already fully committed to making this happen, with all effort and work it takes.
The funding is a challenge as their chaplaincy is completely self-affording.
If you now like the idea of co-writing with them another story that sounds like a fairy tale – one of a revived, open and welcoming Chaplaincy House with lots of activities for all kind of groups and ages or simply want to support them, go online, watch their services and see how welcome you are as a new friend wherever you are and support this campaign with a financial donation.
They are waiting for you - with doors wide open.
Anglican Parish Lanzarote on YouTube
Our website
While many offer some kind of virtual worship during lockdown, the team around Revd Stan Evans, who was only appointed Chaplain in 2019 for Lanzarote and moved into the small Chaplaincy House together with his wife Rosemary, created something exceptional out of nothing.
It was March 15th, 2020, when Spain announced a complete lockdown. Churches were closed, people anxious and in need of pastoral care, worshipping and hope more than ever.
Fr. Stan’s credo for his church is “Our door is always open – for anyone who wants to join us, no questions asked” – and these doors seemed to suddenly have closed with a bang.
Only one week later, after many hours of brainstorming and exchanging of ideas, with no means at all, the Information Officer and Stan managed to film their first service.
Now, 10 weeks later, their YouTube channel “Anglican Parish Lanzarote” is the go-to for so many all around the globe. It has become a multimedia service, easy to follow, full of hope and common worship. The sermons are being translated into German and Spanish and the entire service is supported by written lyrics and pictures.
Fr Stan and his team opened the door again and even wider.
“You would never imagine how these services were created – It’s not what you have, but what you make of it”, says Information Officer Sunny. “When lockdown started, we were in the midst of finding a new Chaplaincy House as the one we have is definitely not fit for purpose. It wasn’t even possible to find a corner big enough to film the service there and we weren’t allowed to use the church. So we chose my living room as the place to record, as it has huge curtains and a space big enough to keep 2m distance.
We didn’t have any equipment – no microphones, no video camera, no lighting… but we had a vision.”
“We are small and weak instruments but through us God can do great things.
Lockdown is slowly easing in Spain but church services – as we know them – aren’t possible for the next months and it would be too dangerous for many to attend.”
“Thanks be to God we have finally found a property we will buy as our new Chaplaincy House! Accessible for wheelchairs, plenty of space indoors and outdoors, parking, room to gather, pray, worship and have a good time together. Depending on when we can purchase it and make the move, one of our summer Living Room services might well be brought to our friends from there.” says Fr. Stan with a smile.
If you see him, you know he is already fully committed to making this happen, with all effort and work it takes.
The funding is a challenge as their chaplaincy is completely self-affording.
If you now like the idea of co-writing with them another story that sounds like a fairy tale – one of a revived, open and welcoming Chaplaincy House with lots of activities for all kind of groups and ages or simply want to support them, go online, watch their services and see how welcome you are as a new friend wherever you are and support this campaign with a financial donation.
They are waiting for you - with doors wide open.
Anglican Parish Lanzarote on YouTube
Our website
Fundraising team: Anglican Parish of Lanzarote (3)
Sunny Zolc for the Anglican Parish Lanzarote
Organizer
Tías
John Stock
Team member
Stan Evans
Team member
