How tier restrictions affect places of worship and faith groups

From today, the national lockdown in England has ended and the country is returning to the Local Restriction, aka Tiers, system. Places of worship are now once again allowed to open for communal worship in all tiers.However, compared to before the lockdown, some changes have been made to which activities are allowed. Please see the table below for a full breakdown of how restrictions apply to faith-related activities in each tier.

If you are unsure which tier of restrictions applies in your area, please check the full list of tiers available on GOV.UK.

What is allowed in each tier of restrictions?

NOTE: Wherever interaction can take place, social distancing of 1m+ should still be strictly maintained between anyone who doesn’t live together or are in a ‘support bubble’.

For more information, please see the updated guidance for places of worship.

Activity	Medium (Tier 1)	High (Tier 2)	Very High (Tier 3)
Opening Places of Worship for communal worship	Open for as many people as can be safely accommodated with social distancing measures
Attending Places of Worship for communal prayer	Can attend and interact in groups of up to 6 people from different households	Can only interact indoors with your own households, but outdoors can interact in groups of up to 6	Can only interact with your own household both indoors and outdoors
Wedding Ceremonies	Can take place with up to 15 attendees, all of whom can interact.
Wedding Receptions	Can take place with up to 15 attendees, all of whom can interact	Can take place with up to 15 attendees, all of whom can interact	Cannot take place
Funerals	Can take place with up to 30 attendees, all of whom can interact
Commemorative events post-death	Can take place with up to 15 attendees, all of whom can interact
Other Standalone Life-Cycle Ceremonies that do not take place as a part of communal worship	Can attend and interact in groups of up to 6 people from different households	Can only interact indoors with your own households, but outdoors can interact in groups of up to 6	Can only interact with your own household both indoors and outdoors
Supervised Activities for Children (including Sunday schools, madrassas etc.)	Can take place with no limit on the number of children permitted to attend, following COVID-Secure guidance. Adults must ensure social distancing at all times.

Is singing allowed?

Singing that involves the congregation is allowed ONLY if it takes place outdoors. Social distancing and any relevant principles laid out in the guidance for the performing arts must also be observed.