St Mary’s is re-opening!
Government guidelines about church buildings are beginning to ease, so from today (14 June) St Mary’s church will be open for private prayer from 11am to 12noon (except this Wednesday 1 July, 7-8pm).
A maximum of twelve people can sit in the church at a time.
The church will be open each day for these hours, for this coming week, after which we will review the situation and see if we can extend those hours.
Please observe social distancing guidelines and use the hand sanitiser provided both on the way in and way out.
You may light a candle if you wish and there are some prayers and ideas on the notice board if you need inspiration. We are currently discouraged from using or handling paper.
This is a first step towards once again being open all day and we look forward to that day. For all that we talk about “the Church being the people” (which is true) buildings are still important - not least because God meets us in physical places. In the scriptures God met the patriarchs of the Old Testament on mountain tops, then in the tablets of the law and the tent of meeting, and eventually in the temple at Jerusalem in the Holy Land. Our revelations - our getting to know God - happen week by week in this building. In this building we pray. We hear the scriptures read and expanded. We meet others made in the image of God. We break bread and share wine and in that sacrament we meet the risen Christ. All that happens here. Within these walls. That’s what makes this building special. It is a place of meeting, a place of revelation, a place where prayer has been made, a place where we are validated and a place where heaven touches earth.
So welcome back.
The Living God waits to embrace you. And once we’ve met the Living God life can no longer ever be the same…
Fr Andrew Perry (Vicar of St Mary’s) 01903 78 33 18
