The services are all streamed online at Rector's Facebook Page
Returning to Church - Regulations and Restrictions
Dear
friends
Following
a meeting of the Vestry, we have taken the decision that we will be moving back
into the church building from the beginning of October 2020. This has been one of the strangest years that
many of us have lived through, and it is a delight that we have managed to
maintain our church family throughout all the changes we have had to
endure! Streaming online has been a
great tool that we have used to keep in touch, however it was a poor
substitution to being together. The
Drive-In church experience was strange at first, but became a brilliant way of
meeting together given the circumstances.
It has been the backbone of our congregational experience throughout the
past few months.
To move into church, we are going to have to follow a new set of regulations. I hope that you will understand the reasoning and expect your experience to be slightly different to the normal we have always enjoyed before.
1.
Foremost, most importantly, and
perhaps most obviously – please, please do not come to church if you are not
feeling well in any way. It is more
important to us all that we know that you are safe at home than sick and at
church! Although this may be mostly
because of the Covid-19 pandemic, it applies to everyone who isn’t well with
any malaise. Please let us know if you
don’t feel well! We will not be testing
you as you enter – we will be assuming that if you are there, you are feeling
well enough, so please be honest.
2.
We are all required to wear facemasks
in church – with the exception to those who do not wear them due to medical
conditions. This is to ensure that we do
not breathe out, or breathe in, the Covid-19 virus – to be sure, to be sure!
3.
We will not be able to pick and choose
where we sit. We realise that every
family has their “own” or “favourite” pew, and that in every service we “fill
from the back forward”. Much as this has
always meant that there were very few folks seated near the front, this is all
changing! You will be escorted by the
church wardens to the pew that is available closest to the front of the church
in order of arrival. You will be asked
to sit in the pew, and not leave it to “have a quick word” with those in other
pews. Certain pews are restricted,
especially the front pews in the gallery and some of the choir pews. The only people we can assume will be in their
same seats are Myrtle (the organist) and Kim (controlling the mics)!
4.
The clergy are not allowed to wander
about – yes, that means the rector! He
will be tied up in the vestry until it is time to start the service, only
released when his church warden (Frances Cartwright) tells him it’s time to go!
5.
Leaving the church will be just as
strange as arriving! We only have one
door available for the congregation, so the church wardens will ask each pew to
leave in an orderly fashion from the back.
We also ask that you make your way as quickly as possible to your
car/motorbike (rector) and not stand to talk at the front of the
building.
6.
We can sing!! Yes, we are permitted to
sing if we do it softly and keep our masks on!
The words will be available on the screen at the front – controlled by
Kim at the back of the church. There
will be only two hymns per service at the moment.
7.
There will be no books available in
the church – all our services will be on sheets, just like the Drive-in
services. Please take them with you when
you leave.
8.
Yes, we will continue to stream the
services online via Facebook each Sunday (and during the week depending on the
rector’s timetable and availability).
9.
We are required to maintain a 2m
distancing in church – which means that every other pew is reserved to maintain
the social and physical distance. This
will also affect on the numbers available in church. We would ask that people from the same
family/social “bubble” arrive together to aid the seating.
10.
Here’s an awkward point
– at some stage we will reach the FULL point, when we will not be permitted to
allow anyone else into church. Unfortunately, we don’t have a stable (unlike
the inn in Bethlehem) but we do have a parish hall. We will stream the service on a screen in the
parish hall, and hope that you would be content to join us there. If you are
turned away, we sincerely hope that you are not offended – such are the new
times – but would like to offer the possibility to reserve a place for the
following Sunday. This will not be
available to everyone – we are not booking seats for services, but only if you
have been turned away from a previous service.
It is not our fault, and hope that you can accept this point.
11.
We need to maintain a list of people
attending each service for tracing in case we do experience a breakout of the
virus. If you are a regular, you’ll
probably never even notice, but if you are a stranger, please take no
offence. Of course, by this time we hope
that you have all downloaded and installed STOPCOVIDNI app on your smartphone!
12.
If you would like to speak to the
rector, please place a note on the collection plate as you are leaving. We will not be passing around a collection
plate, but will receive a retiring offering after each service for your
envelopes or cash offering. Don’t forget
that the church has moved with the times, and that you can contribute
electronically – ask our Treasurer Albert McClelland for further details.
13. If the Infection Rate (R-Number) continues to rise, the Government and/or Church Authorities may be forced to return to the lock-down situation as before. In this case, we may revert to Drive-In Church (if we are permitted), or to the previous online only situation as we had at the beginning of the pandemic. We will be following all necessary restrictions and provisions as directed. This may happen at very short notice, but we will endeavour to inform everyone as soon as possible.
We will return to the normal routine of services with a monthly Holy Communion and Morning Prayer services. Holy Communion may only be distributed as the bread, not the wine. As an Anglican church, our Constitution states that we share a single cup if practical, and use a few chalices only if we need to because of numbers. We are not permitted to use “single shot” size glasses or thimbles – nor should we desire to really (perhaps speaking for myself, Rector). Again, we look forward to this changing, but there are no signs of it being anytime soon.
The
restrictions are seen most clearly in our parish organisations. The Mothers’ Union, Girls’ Friendly Society,
Sunday School and Bowls Club are under quarantine at the moment, and are not
meeting. Perhaps at some stage soon they
will return, but it is unlikely that the Sunday School will return before
school half-term at the end of October, perhaps even Christmas. The leaders of each organisation wish that
the circumstances were different, and thank all members for their understanding
and continued support. We will shortly
be releasing a pack to each Sunday School student, and if you would like to
avail of one for your friends or family, just let us know. If the kids send pictures of their work to
the rector, we will get them up on the parish website as part of our praise to
God.
Our
fundraising activities have been seriously curtailed this year – having missed
our St Patrick’s Day dinner, our Annual Barbecue, the Annual Football
tournament, sponsored walks and quizzes, although some have managed to survive
in a reduced capacity. I would like to
thank the organisers of the Village Treasure Hunt, the walk through Colebrooke Estate and those who organised and distributed the Quiz Sheets. We still hope to have another few events
before the end of the year – but more information later about them!
The
decision to return to church has not been taken lightly, but we feel that it is
now time to move to the next phase of our response to the current worldwide
dilemma. As soon as we have news about
the other festivals that are approaching such as Remembrance, Advent,
Christmas, etc and the different fundraising activities are made, we will let
everyone aware of them in good time.
One
thing we can sure of is the love and eternal nature of God. He has been faithful to us throughout the
strangest year of our lives, and we have only been able to continue as a
worshipping community because of his blessing and protection.
If
you would like to discuss any of the content of this letter, please feel free
to get in contact with me at any time, and I look forward to joining you all
soon in Church.
May
God continue to bless you in all that you do.
Your
friend in Christ
Rector
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