Returning to the Church
Most of you will be aware that the government has now said that we may return to worship in our churches for public worship from the 4th July.
So what are our plans at St John's?
We are aiming to be ready to re-open for our weekly Sunday mass from the 5th July. We are currently assessing what it is we need to do to get the church ready. It will not, of course, be 'back to normal' as there will be restrictions in place. We will be ensuring that social distancing is observed and that sanitisation facilities are available. For the time being there will be no singing. We'll be able to give a clearer picture of how things will work once we have received any fianl instructions from the C of E and the Diocese on reopening.
We are also planning to restart our Thursday morning 10am mass from 9th July, again with all necessary precautions in place. Having services on Sundays and Thursdays will mean we can have three days between each service. The only exception to that is for any funerals or weddings we might have, in which case the church will be cleaned before and after each of those services. We are still waiting for permission to restart baptism services.
Coming back into church will mean a change to what we have been offering online, as we cannot film in the church on Saturday and then hold a service on Sunday. Not everyone will be able to come back to church, of course. And so we are looking at what other options there are for us to provide spiritual support for those who won't be able to return to church yet, so you can still join with us each Sunday.