Sunday Worship in Church

Dear friends,

We are finally able to gather safely in St Andrew’s once more to celebrate the Eucharist! Government guidelines came out yesterday and I and the wardens have read them carefully, and I’m happy to say that what we already had in mind is well within the permitted margins. Specifically, numbers permitted to attend are only limited by the size and nature of the building and how many can be accommodated safely. We can easily have 60+ chairs at more than 2 metres apart, so we don’t need to restrict numbers who can come. We will, however, keep a list of names of those who attend in case Track and Trace might need them.

As we are the only Anglican church opening up this week, we must make it clear that we are not able to accommodate any folk from other churches, as we cannot put that kind of pressure on our numbers. But members of your family who may not be usual attenders are welcome to come with you.

Two obvious things:

  1. Please stay away if you feel at all unwell
  2. Wash your hands thoroughly before you come.

I’ll go through the basics of what we have in mind for each of our two morning services. But first, I’ll outline the level of risk in our area, and why I believe we can all feel very reassured about gathering for worship.

Currently, the national risk status is Amber, or level 3, and on average, 1 person in 1,700 would be expected to test positive. That means if you are out and about in London, you have a 1 in 1700 chance of walking past someone who has Covid. In the South West, we are less than half the national average, so the chance is around 1 in 5000. In Chippenham, we have been consistently better, even than the SW figures, throughout the epidemic; so the risk is very, very slight.

If you come to St Andrew’s this Sunday, you will not need to touch any surfaces other than your chair which will have been sanitized, and you will not need to come within 2 metres of anyone at any point. Doors will remain open for good ventilation. Everyone will be asked to bring their own bread, and we will not share the wine at either service to begin with. At the 9am service there won’t be singing. Anyone who wishes to wear a facemask may do so, though this is not compulsory.

Government guidelines say that for vulnerable and shielding people, the decision whether to attend worship is their own, as long as they are aware of the risks involved. I entirely respect everyone’s own decision (and we will continue to provide material for worship at home), but I feel that it’s difficult to see how the risk of coming to church could be any less, and I would say there is also another danger; that of people being isolated for so long that they lose the confidence to come out at all.

The 9am Service

I would ask that people who are back at work or at school, are volunteering or are generally out and about during the week, and families with young children, should not attend this service. This will mean that those who are particularly vulnerable can feel confident that all those in the congregation have been safely isolated during the week, and that children will not be free range! The church will have been closed for 15 hours before you come and cleaned during that time.

This service will alternate weekly between traditional and contemporary language, to be sensitive to both our usual 8am congregation and those from 10am who are joining the more shielded service. The first week will be traditional. I anticipate it lasting half an hour.

You are asked to:

  • Wait by the main door when you arrive, until you can see that no one else is in the porch or talking to the sidesperson.
  • Take a service sheet from the box offered, but then keep it and take it away with you to dispose of at home.
  • Bring your own bread (a glass is not needed for now). A small piece of bread that you can eat in one go can be brought in a container or bag (though wafers will be available by the door if you prefer). At the consecration, you will be asked to hold it loose in your hand. You can also bring another piece of bread to take back to someone in your household who cannot come.
  • Wash your hands well before coming – but use the sanitizer in church whenever you feel necessary. Please avoid using the loo if possible, but let us know if you do need to, so that we can confirm that it’s been sanitized before and after
  • Sit together with anyone from your household, but keep the chairs 2 metres from anyone else.
  • Share the Peace only by a nod, with your hands clasped, from where you stand, not stepping towards anyone, offering to shake hands, or calling out in a loud voice.
  • Leave by the South or North door (not the one you entered), being careful not to block other people from exiting safely

The 10.30am Service

This service will start cautiously, and be similar to the 9am at first, but we would hope to gradually introduce other elements such as singing and sharing the wine at communion (though not from a shared chalice), when we know that we can do this safely. Government guidelines advise against singing, for example, but don’t forbid it. There are many church buildings where singing would clearly not be safe, but the space in ours means it wouldn’t actually pose any threat. We might, for example, sing a quiet Taizé chant whilst seated after communion. But not at first. Instead, if Paul is willing, we will listen to some of his lovely playing at points in the service. We may also be able to serve coffee after worship quite soon – and Sue and I hope you will safely share a glass of bubbly with us on our Ruby Wedding on 12th July.

Families are warmly welcome! We will try to give you a space together suitable for your children’s ages, and would ask you to bring suitable toys or activities, as our children’s area will be closed. Please do not worry if younger children roam about! If they touch anyone else, that person can simply go and use the sanitizer and you can give your child’s hands a wipe. Not a problem. I anticipate this service lasting 45 minutes.

You are asked to:

  • Wait by the main door when you arrive until you can see that no one else is in the porch or talking to a sidesperson
  • Take a service sheet from the box offered, but then keep it and take it away with you to dispose of at home.
  • Bring your own bread (a glass is not needed for now). A small piece of bread that you can eat in one go can be brought in a container or bag. At the consecration, you will be asked to hold it loose in your hand. You can also bring another piece of bread to take back to someone in your household who cannot come.
  • Wash your hands well before coming – but use the sanitizer in church whenever you feel necessary.
  • Please avoid using the loo if possible, but let us know if you do need to, so that we can confirm that it’s been sanitized before and after. If you take a child to the loo, perhaps you could wipe all surfaced touched after you.
  • Sit together with anyone from your household, but keep the chairs 2 metres from anyone else.
  • Share the Peace only by a nod, with your hands clasped, from where you stand, not stepping towards anyone, offering to shake hands, or calling out in a loud voice.
  • Leave by the South or North door (not the one you entered), being careful not to block other people from exiting safely

Phew! Who would have thought that gathering for worship could become so involved? But we can gather once again, and thanks be to God for that!

Much love

Rod x

 

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