A rector is now holding a Sunday service online after churches were forced to close because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Harpenden's rector for the parish, Dennis Stamps, held his first virtual communion service on Sunday morning (March 29).

The three churches in the parish - St Nicholas, St Marys and All Saints - set up a meeting using video conferencing platform Zoom.

This decision was made following the Government's call to close places of worship earlier this month due to the Covid-19 crisis.

The Government announced last Monday (March 23) that people should only be allowed to leave their homes for essential shopping, medical reasons, to help a vulnerable person and to travel to and from work, if absolutely necessary.

St Albans & Harpenden Review:

Reverend Dennis Stamp. Photo: Giles Croot

Reverend Dennis Stamps said: "At times like this the support and comfort of the church and community are even more important than normal.

“We wanted to do something where people could see each other and get a sense of community rather than simply placing a video on social media for people to watch.”

There was live music from organist Chris Muhley and virtual hymns were led by St Nicholas' director of music, Marie Price.

Reverend Stamps added: "We had no idea how popular the service would be.

St Albans & Harpenden Review:

The online service last Sunday (March 29). Photo: Giles Croot

"We had the full 100 households throughout the service and we know there were many people who couldn't get into the meeting.

"All the more remarkable as many of our congregation have never used video conferencing before. We'll be upgrading our package so that we have 300 lines available next week."

Annie-Marie Kramer, who attended the service in her living room, said: "It is so wonderful to be able to see other people and to join in with the hymns and other parts of the service.”

The next Sunday service will take place at 11am and can be accessed from https://us04web.zoom.us/j/773146699