On Tuesday 31st August, the Government announced that from Monday 6th September, “All religious ceremonies can proceed with 50% of venue capacity”. That sounds as if we can move to half full church capacity. However, this change only really benefits very large church buildings as we are still obliged to observe “social distancing between groups”. There has been no indication from government as to whether that social distancing can be reduced from 2 metres to 1 in our churches as is the case in other community settings. Until that happens, we will continue to gather safely just as we have been over the past few months, whilst being able to fit just a few more people into the body of the church. So please continue to be patient and kindly follow the guidance of our volunteer stewards. Without their commitment we simply could not gather for worship.
Fr. Damian McNeice, P.P.