Dear Friends,
Once again with heavy hearts we face the isolation necessary to break the chain of this virus.
A big part of me wants to fight the battle to establish that churches have been safe and secure spaces throughout, and that not a single outbreak of Covid has been traced to a Christian act of worship throughout this year (except at one church that incredibly allowed 300 guests at a baptism!). But I guess every shop owner and pub landlord could argue how safe their premises are too, and we have to knuckle down and take the pain along with everyone else.
So this is to confirm that places of worship are closed for everything except individual prayer, funerals and certain support groups, so there will be no Sunday or Thursday Eucharist until 3rd Dec – if all goes to plan. The church will however be open from 8am till 6pm each day, and I will be there from 5 till 6 if anyone needs me.
We return to a shared act of worship in our own homes, as close as possible to 10am each Sunday, and material will be sent out by Friday evening each week. The Remembrance Sunday silence at 11 will be kept on behalf of everyone with just a handful of people at the war memorial, but you are, of course, asked to keep it in your homes with us.
Do please check that everyone you know who is connected with St Andrew’s, and would like to receive communications from us, is on Ros’s mailing list** – or I can deliver a printed version each week to anyone without email … but only if I know! So I’d rather 10 people told me the same thing, than not know.
If it is possible for the sacrament to be available in a way that complies with all the guidance, I will be the first to make it so, but for now we must be thankful for the greater contact that is allowed this time for everyone, and that our church can remain open as a place of sanctuary and peace.
God bless
Rod