Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Pentecost Sunday and the following eight days are our parish feast days. The beginning of the Church as the Holy Spirit descended on Our Lady and the Apostles in the upper room. Sending them forth to preach the Gospel. Calling them to leave the relative safety and comfort of what they knew to journey to ends of the known world to preach Jesus Christ.
Ironically, being good citizens many of you are metaphorically are in your “upper room” and may be sensibly have decided, despite government advice, that you will continue to remain there for some time to come.
Things are beginning to change and I wanted to write and let you know how the Government’s conditions on churches re-opening are going to affect us.
Firstly, churches will only be allowed to re-open when they can satisfy a series of conditions. These are:
- They can maintain Social Distancing at all times
- They can provide Stewards and Cleaners from non-vulnerable groups to maintain a safe environment
- They can maintain this safe environment for a considerable period of time (possibly as long as 18 months)
- They must not be encouraging the elderly and vulnerable to make anything more than essential journeys out of their homes
Our vibrant little community is largely composed of those the government deems, “at risk”. i.e. people with underlying health conditions and/or over 70 years of age. We cannot and indeed must not expect any of these to perform any of the necessary tasks that are required to have the church open. Furthermore, social distancing would mean we could only safely accommodate around 40 people. In the light of this information we will be unable to reopen Holy Spirit for the foreseeable future until the current pandemic situation has passed.
This is source of sadness to us all, but this entire episode of our human history has irrevocably changed the way we do so many ordinary things.
You are all constantly in my thoughts and prayers and I beg your prayers in return as I, like so many other Parish Priests, try to lead the communities entrusted to my care through and beyond this terrible situation.
Yours in Christ and the strength of the Holy Spirit
Father Adrian
