Thanks be to God! We have obtained permission to celebrate Holy Mass with a congregation at All Saints, on Saturdays at 6pm; and at St Mary Crowned, on Sundays at 10.30am. Edit: now that St Mary Crowned is closed for repairs, Holy Mass is celebrated in St Mary’s Hall.
Attendance for Saturday and Sunday Masses is by pre-booking only. To avoid disappointment and embarrassment, please do not turn up unless you have booked a place: this is due to a limit on the numbers permissible in the church and is a condition of being allowed to open.
To book a place at Holy Mass in a local church (or hall), please visit the central booking website. There is no charge for booking. People who do not have access to the internet can ask a family member or a friend to book on their behalf, and if that option is not available to them they can phone 07427 556088.
Places are assigned on a first-come-first-served basis and a waiting list system will also be in place. You must book for each Mass you plan to attend, and you can book a week ahead.
When planning to come to the Mass you have booked a seat for, you may be asked to wait outside until invited in to take a seat. Please arrive in time to allow for this managed arrival to take place and for Holy Mass to start on time.
Stewards will assist you arriving and leaving so that people are kept safe, and the stewards will show you to your seat, and call you forward when it is time to receive Holy Communion and when you may safely leave the church after Holy Mass. You will not have a choice of seat, and nobody will be allowed to sit or stand at the back of church.
There will not be a collection during Holy Mass but there will be a collection plate at the back of the church as you enter. This will be removed as Holy Mass begins, so please contribute as you enter.
One of the measures to reduce risk of infection is that there is no singing in church. There are other measures that will make the way Holy Mass is celebrated different to what we’re used to. Holy Communion may be received only in the hand.
Places of worship are now on the government’s list of places where visitors must wear a face covering. If you are exempt from wearing a face covering in other places, you are exempt in churches too.
The church will be closed ten minutes after Holy Mass ends, to allow for cleaning.
Thee are no toilet facilities.
On any day of the week when there is not a congregation, I continue to celebrate Holy Mass behind closed door.
Heartfelt thanks to the many volunteers who have spent hundreds of hours preparing the churches for celebrating Holy Mass with a congregation, and to those who generously volunteered to act as stewards.
If a steward is unable to assist (for example, because of illness or a family emergency), then unless a substitute can be found in time it will not be possible to open the church to a congregation.
Please read this post which adds more useful information about the measures in use to prevent infection (which include encouraging people who are particularly vulnerable to stay at home).