Dear Friends

I'm delighted to hear the news this morning that Covid restrictions are going to be lifted for Welsh churches from February 28th. This means that we will have two more Sundays of compulsory face coverings for the whole service, but thereafter we will be able to make our own decisions and relax our rules.

It is likely that from March 6th onwards we will adopt in Presteigne and Discoed the regime we're running in Kinsham, Lingen and Knill – that we ask members of the congregation to wear face coverings when moving around the building, but allow them to be removed when they are in their seats. This will make it a whole lot easier to join in with the liturgy and sing the hymns!

Although, at St Andrew's, we'll be sticking with the 1-metre distancing of seats for the time being, we're proposing to reserve the blue chairs at the back for members who would prefer to retain their face coverings and to maintain a little more distance from those who won't be wearing them.

No one will mind in the slightest if some members prefer to continue wearing masks throughout the whole service - it's absolutely a matter of personal choice, and everyone will understand entirely if some of our friends are a little more cautious.

For the time being, we'll continue to receive only the bread at Holy Communion, though we will keep this under review and canvass opinion before Easter.

We welcome this forthcoming move towards ‘normality’, but if you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me.

With very best wishes

Stephen

Revd Preb Stephen Hollinghurst