Some pastors and leaders have been asking why churches and places of worship are not able to be open and are seemingly being left until the last stage, when other venues may be able to be open sooner.  There are a number of things happening in the advocacy space, some of which you have the opportunity to join if you wish to.

1. The Victorian Council of Churches, along with a number of Church leaders have written to Premier asking for fairness and parity in regard to opening of venue. This relates to step 3 where restaurants and other entertainment venues for examples, theatres,  will be open based on a social quotient.  The argument is that churches should be treated the same. 
2. In addition, at present in regional Victoria, places of worship can gather outside with up to 10 people and a leader – VCC and church leaders are asking why we can’t Metro Melbourne be treated the same as regional facilities, when we can meet all the COVIDSafe requirements.
3. Through the VCC multi-faith group there is also strong representation to allow places of worship to open sooner, again with the social quotient in place  – and at the very least allow the removal of the limit on number of people allowed on premises for live broadcasts.

What you can do:

1. Add your name to the Premier’s petition  – There is a letter /petition circulating which will be sent to the Premier this week, from independent churches, which asks for the above points to be considered
   – you can access the link for the letter here and add your name and church.
2. Write to your local MP – Perhaps the most powerful action we can all take is at a grassroots level  – writing to our local MP advocating for change.  We have adapted the letter in the link above (originally written by ACL) to be relevant for an individual or a church leader to send to local MP  – you just need to edit the bold and bracketed sections.  Click here to access letter to local MP
3. Click here for Advocacy 101 – A Resource for Pastors, Church Leaders and Activist groups