Services in St. Mary’s:

We have now received some guidance from the Church of England and our bishops. Basically, it is as I had suggested in my last letter – social distancing of 2 meters, no singing and advice to keep our services as short as possible.

While a few people would like Sunday church services to resume the majority of you who responded said you would prefer to keep the Sunday Zoom service at present, with many agreeing that a Wednesday service would be a suitable addition.

Consequently the decision is:

We will keep our current pattern of Sunday Holy Communion at 10:30 am and an Evening Service at 5:00 pm on Zoom.

From Wednesday 8th July we will start a service of Holy Communion in St. Mary’s at 11:00 am – receiving in one kind only and with careful social distancing and hand sanitising in place. I won’t be putting tape on the floor – out of respect to our Victorian Webb tiles – but please do make sure you maintain distance when coming in and going out – just as you would do within the church. Hand sanitiser will be used before we come in and as we go out.

The church will be kept locked on a Wednesday until 10:30 am then cleaned and shut again after the service until Thursday, to ensure it is as clean and safe as possible.

It will feel very strange coming back together and please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or queries.

I will still be taking home communion to people, in their gardens, for those who will feel safer that way.

We will be reviewing what we are doing very regularly and I will, of course, keep you informed.