Minister Scott Dunlop thrilled as North Tamworth Anglican Church gains followers despite COVID

The first new Anglican Church in the city in 25 years had a tough beginning, with the COVID-19 pandemic starting just seven weeks after it began operations.

Just 16 people attended the first service, held at the library at Calrossy, but prior to the recent lockdown it was averaging around 90.

As a result, the service will now need to move once lockdown ends, which Minister Dunlop admitted was a good headache to have.

"It's was pretty considerable growth over a 12 month period," he said.

"It had been slowly growing over that time and we've outgrown the resource centre so now we're needing to move which is a great problem to have."

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He said there wasn't a particular point when lots of people decided to join up, not even at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak.

However, he does believe people going through tough times may have had an impact, with many of the members being new to church altogether.

"I've noticed with COVID that people are a bit more open compared to normal, if there is such a thing as normal," he said.

"COVID has really been tough for people and has been a big reminder that our world is broken and I think it's made people think.

"And the light of Jesus bring shines brighter in the dark, so to speak, so the fact he brings hope beyond our broken world has shone more I think."

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