We are pleased to announce that from July 19^th, St Mary’s Church will be open for Public Worship when we plan to have a short service of quiet prayer at 3.30pm. This feels like a very big step, especially after so many weeks of lockdown. Going into lockdown felt strange, but I think many of us eventually got used to it. Human beings are very adaptable – that’s one of the main reasons there are so many of us! However, coming out of lockdown is so much more complicated!

We have had to make some changes to the way we run St Mary’s so we can do our best to keep people safe. To comply with social distancing guidelines we will be able to welcome 23 people to services at a time. Please do feel welcome, but if more people arrive we will ask you to return on a different Sunday. There will be a one way system in place in church, and there will be help on hand if you find it confusing. We’ve tried our best to make it straightforward. There will be hand sanitiser, which we will ask you to use on your way in and out. Sadly we aren’t allowed to sing in church yet. There will be new service leaflets which we will ask you to keep and bring with you when you come again.

St Mary’s has been deep cleaned in preparation for re-opening and we are really looking forward to starting up again.

We plan to have services of Holy Communion at 9.15 on July 26^th, August 1^st and August 8^th.

We will continue to make recorded services available for those unable to come to church. We plan to record the services as they happen in church and then make them available after the event.

We plan to also be ready to offer the church for funeral services, though numbers will be limited to 30, 30 is better than the 10 currently allowed at crematoria. We will not be able to sing, but we will be able to remember loved ones together and commend them to God.

Baptisms and weddings will also be possible, subject to similar restrictions on numbers. So, if you would like to arrange and funeral, wedding or baptism, please do get in touch:

Rev Anna Burr 01757 270325 burrannav@gmail.com

Dated: 8^th July 2020

Please NOTE: The above may be subject to amendment if Government Advice changes.

Further information is available here