500+ clergy and lay people signed a letter to the Times calling for a rethink to current guidance on church shutdown. They said that closed churches are stifling their prophetic witness and defence of the poor. They agreed that temporary closure of churches for public worship is necessary in the current crisis. However, the broadcast of services from a closed church is explicitly permitted by government guidelines and almost all other churches are doing this, but ‘the Church of England has gone beyond this advice’. Since the publication of this letter, the CofE has responded by issuing revised guidelines outlining the precautions which must be taken if a church building is being used for private prayer or streaming worship: see