Dear Friends,
I look forward to seeing some of you in Church this coming Sunday. Lawrie was due to lead the service but is unable to do so because of his recent hospital stay. So I will be leading and we will take the opportunity to have communion. This will be done by using pre-prepared cups which contain both the bread and wine in a sealed cup which we will all pick up as we enter church, and keep hold of it until we need it in the service. We will then provide a bags for the empty cups at the end.
I would like to remind you that we still need to remember the guidance about sanitising our hands as we enter the church, wearing our masks properly indoors, and keeping our distance from one another. We are still not permitted to sing.
These guidelines are no different to what we have to do elsewhere, and are in place to be as safe as we can be. I know that some have issues with these arrangements, but they are government guidelines and will remain in place until they are lifted.
We are alternating our Sunday morning gathering between physically meeting and zoom services, as that reflected the varied preferences of the Church Council on 25th March. We promised to keep the situation under review and so we will have another Church Council on 18th May to consider our view then.
Although there is a roadmap published by the government of dates when restrictions may be lifted, it remains to be seen, when and whether social distancing, mask wearing and no public singing may be changed.
So please follow the guidelines, it is not easy for our stewards to keep reminding people to do so.
Peace
Tim