News
The Queen's Platinum Jubliee Queen’s fun hats made by local people will be on display throughout June. The choir will sing a special anthem composed for the Royal School of Church Music with words and music by Thomas Hewitt-Jones based on the Queen’s speeches. It is called “In our service”. The organist John Woodhouse will play music for royalty at the church fair on June 25th and there will be items from local schools. Why not come along and “have a go” on the magnificent organ? Bell-ringers all over the country will ring a quarter-peel in June. More details on the website https://www.stjohnscaterham.org.uk/ and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/stjohnscaterham. | |
Bishop Christopher's Christmas Message | |
Covid-19 / Plan B - Updated guidelines Following the introduction of Plan B by the Government, the Church of England has updated its guidlines on public worship. The main change is that the wearing of facemasks is now, once more, mandatory. When attending services at St John's you will therefore need to wear a face covering. This incudes while singing. The usual medical exemptions apply, of course. The full guidance can be read here: Opening and Managing Church Buildings | |
The Bridge The latest edition of the Diocesan newspaper is now out! Read your copy of The Bridge here. | |
Harvest Thanksgiving Harvest Thanksgiving 2021How to make your gift this yearDuring these difficult times, as with last year, we are not collecting foodstuffs. We are collecting instead monetary gifts to send to:
Please put in an envelope either: a cheque payable to St John’s PCC On the envelope write Harvest and then underneath write the name of which charity you would like your gift to go to. You can bring your gift to any service up to October 10th | |
Update on Covid restrictions Following the lifting of many restrictions on Monday 19th July, here's what's different in church. 1. Social distancing has been lifted. We have therefore removed the floor arrows and seat stickers in much of the church. However, there are still two areas in the church with restrictions in place for those who still feel more comfortable when distanced. 2. It's no longer a requriement to check-in, but your are encouraged to do so. The QR codes for the NHS app are still displayed, or you can sign in. 3. You still need to sanisie on arriving and leaving. 4. Masks are no longer a legal requirement. However, we encourage you to use them when arriving and leaving. The government are still asking people in enclosed spaces to wear masks, so we are following the government's guidlines and asking people to do so as much as possible. You should always wear a mask if in proxomoty with others not from your houshold. In particular, you still do need to wear a mask when coming forward to receive communion. Usual exemptions for health reasons still do, of course, remain. 5. Singing is now allowed, but the C of E are currently recommending that people mask to sing when near others. 6. Communion will still be in one kind, that is just the host and not the precious blood. | |
Summer Fair Summer FairSaturday 24th July
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Lifting of Restrictions The lifting of restrictions from July 19th by the Government will inevitably lead to changes in the church. For some this is good news, however others will feel nervouse about a relaxation of restrictions. We are at the moment waiting for the Church of England to release updated guidlines. Once we have these we will be in a position to update our risk assessment accordingly. It is likely that we will relax distancing guidelines in much of the church, while keeping a section of the church with distancing still in place. We are fortunate that the size of the building allows us to do this. We will be clearer about this once we know what the guidlines are. We will update everyone as soon as we are in a position to do so. | |