Session met on Monday evening 29th June and discussed at length the arrangements we want to put in place for resuming indoor worship services on Lord’s Day 5th July. Our hope is to hold a morning worship service at 12 noon in the church hall. Hard surfaces that may have been contacted will be cleaned after the service. The evening service will also be held in the church hall and will be at 7.30pm, with those who have been out in the morning asked to sit on the same seat in the evening.
Please arrive in good time for the services as it will take longer to get everyone in and seated due to social distancing requirements. We want to leave a parking area free around the Session Room as the service will be relayed from a speaker there into the car park. Those who are not presently allowed to attend an indoor meeting can come and sit in their car and hopefully will hear all that is going on inside.
Two elders will be at the external church hall doors and they will ask you to proceed inside. Hand sanitisers will be in the porch area. Please use these to help stop the spread of infection – any of us could be virus carriers without knowing it. Proceed then into the church hall. Chairs have been arranged in family seating groups. There is one group of 7 seats, one of 6, two of 5, two of 4, three of 3 and all the rest are set out in pairs. Each group of chairs is at a 2m distance from the next nearest groups. If you are sitting on your own, you will have an empty seat beside you which will not be used.
In the present circumstances we are not able to make bibles or psalm books generally available, so you need to bring your own. If you need to collect any such items from the church buildings please go through the Session Room and then come into the hall through the kitchen. Please take your bible and psalm book home with you and bring them with you each time you come to worship. There will be no offering uplifted during the service, but there will be a basket on the right hand side as you enter the hall that you can put an offering in. Those who have been able to set up a standing order or are making internet banking payments can continue to do so in the meantime as this minimises the risks involved in the handling of money.
Since singing is something that carries an increased risk of spreading the virus through droplets in the air, we have agreed to have just one singing and this will be at the end of our time together, thus minimising the time we will be indoors after the singing of a psalm. Toilets will be available for use, but this carries risks, so it should be avoided where possible. Toilet users should clean surfaces after use. Children are asked to use the disabled toilet and adults can use the male and female toilets if necessary.
At the end of the service the way we leave the church hall will need to be carefully controlled to observe 2m social distancing. We cannot all get up and go at once. Things need to be done in a different way from normal. Once you are outside, move away from the exit door so that there is room for those behind you to safely exit. We have plenty of space in our car park for chatting, but do remember to maintain appropriate social distancing. Lets seek to do all we can to make sure that everyone feels safe. More to follow on arrangements for those not able to attend.
Rev. David Fallows.