Hello all

As you will be aware, the government has announced that places of worship can be opened for private prayer from the 15th June. This is really encouraging news. However, we need to wait for detailed guidance from the Church of England and be aware that guidance for Methodist churches will not be available until after the Methodist Conference at the beginning of July.

We’d like to assure you that the clergy and church officers at St Wilfrid’s and St Francis have begun to do some initial thinking and planning around this.

As you can imagine, there is a lot to consider, and we will only open our church buildings when we are confident they are as Covid secure as possible, and only then for very limited periods. It is unlikely our church buildings will be open the week of the 15th June. Given that we are permitted to open from the 15th June, it doesn’t mean we obliged to open that week. We are sure you’ll agree with us that it is better the opening is managed as safely and responsibly as possible, and adhering to national church guidelines, rather than rushing the process.

Many thanks for your understanding

Blessings

Pete Watson & Christine Gillespie