Although St Mark’s, pictured, is not running its regular services since the government issued its advice on social distancing, the church on St Mark’s Hill, Surbiton, has launched YouTube sermons and is still open for private prayer.

The Rev Robert Stanier, the vicar of St Mark’s and its sister church St Andrew’s in Maple Road, said: “These are strange times. While we aren’t allowed to host services because of rules about social distancing, we are encouraging people to pop in to pray or just to have a quiet think.

“Both St Andrew’s and St Mark’s will be open every day for the foreseeable future, from about 9am till about 5pm every day.”

The vicar is also uploading a YouTube sermon each Friday for his flock and anyone else who would like to tune in.

“In order to continue offering Christian thought in a world where you can’t come into church to hear a sermon, the church has set up a YouTube channel, and there’ll be something new each week.”

The first six-minute video on his thoughts on Psalm 137 (By the rivers of Babylon) and its relevance to how to live with the coronavirus outbreak can be found on the Home page of the church website at www.surbitonchurch.org.uk

You can also see the current video here.