You have probably heard by now that from 4th July churches are permitted to reintroduce live worship. We have now received clarification from the Church of England regarding the measures that we must put in place to ensure the safety of those attending and are planning to hold our first live service on Sunday 12th July.
We realise that many of you have very much appreciated some of the more informal elements of our streamed services and are hoping that, technology permitting, we will be able to retain some of these alongside our traditional 9.30 Eucharist. We will also continue to stream these services from the Abbey so that they can be enjoyed by those of you who are still shielding or currently feel unable to attend in person.
We have decided that initially we will limit the number of people in the congregation to 40 to allow for safe social distancing. With this in mind and to avoid us having to turn anyone away at the door, If you would like to attend could you please contact Churchwarden Janet Wallace by email at jduncan896@gmail.com or by phone on 02380 869723 by Friday evening. If reserving more than one place please make it clear whether these are for members of the same household who will be able to sit together or on behalf of a friend. To assist in the government’s Trace and Track process we will need to keep a record of everyone who attends. If it isn’t possible to accommodate everyone we will let you know and you will be given priority for the following week.
To let you know what to expect and what safety measures we have put in place we are planning to record a short video which will be available on the Abbey website. If possible we would ask you to take a look at this before you attend.
We would also welcome any thoughts or concerns you may have about the safe reopening of the Abbey and St Swithun’s and suggestions as to how you would like to see things developing over the next few weeks and months.
