As you will all be aware the Government have now announced a new national lockdown from 6 January 2021 instructing us all to stay at home except for certain limited exemptions. One of these exemptions is for public worship, which is allowed to continue under strict safety guidelines. The Church of England has issued a statement which strongly advises those who are most vulnerable to take particular care and stay at home. Anyone who does not feel safe should not feel obliged to attend. We all have a duty to care for each other and particularly for those who are most at risk.

Our decision for St Alban’s is that from Thursday 7th January until Saturday 16th January we will not open for public worship but will continue to Livestream all our services during that time. We will review this next week and make a final decision about reopening our doors for Sunday 17th January, for those who are not vulnerable and would value it, whilst continuing to Livestream.

Our worship will continue to be available via Livestream on Facebook Live.

Once we do reopen we will need to follow the guidelines very closely in order to prevent any possibility of spreading the virus. So to ensure we are as safe as possible, we will ask you not to arrive at Church too early and to leave promptly once the service is finished. We understand that people will miss the social interaction that we are used to but these measures are vital if we are to do our bit to support our NHS at what is a time of extraordinary pressure. So please look after yourselves. Stay at home and help protect our NHS.