Lockdown #5
Dear Friends,
On Monday 19th July the UK Government lifted nearly all legal restrictions on meeting together. However, while the rate of infections is still so high we are encouraged to use this new freedom cautiously and make changes gradually. In light of that advice I have been revising the Risk Assessments for Kingham and Churchill churches.
I prepared a short video to explain the outcome: After 19th July We are expected to make informed choices about the protection measures we use. Here are my suggestions:
We can each choose to wear a mask inside the church or not. I am asking stewards to wear masks when greeting people. Some may want to continue to wear masks all the time that they are indoors. Others may choose to remove them once they are seated, still others won't wear one at all. Please be aware of one another's decisions and be kind in your behaviour towards others.
Hand sanitisers are still available in the church but there's no longer an obligation to use them when entering or exiting the building.
Doors will be opened for every service to encourage ventilation.
We will continue to take a register of attendees each Sunday, and individuals may 'check-in' with the NHS Covid app' using the QR code poster.
The left-hand area of seating (looking towards the front of church) will be kept as a 2m spacing zone. On the right-hand side the signs will still be left out encouraging everyone to sit in alternate pews. However, if you want to sit in an adjacent pew to someone and they are happy for you to sit near, then please go ahead.
We are now allowed to sing together, which will be a great joy. However, singing apparently produces a lot of aerosol particles so I would like us all to wear masks to sing. I realise this will be uncomfortable for us all and will seem completely pointless to some but while there are high levels of infection it seems prudent to employ this initial limitation as we begin singing again.
When we have communion we will continue to share it in one kind only (just bread) for the moment.
All of these measures will be reviewed in September.
Please do call me or email if you have any questions about these suggestions, or our services, or just for a chat.
Yours faithfully,
David Salter.