Re-opening of Holy Spirit Church
For Public Worship
At last we have received permission to reopen the Church for Mass on the condition that we strictly adhere to Diocesan Guidelines. We are doing this so please be patient with us. We will be trialling Mass at 6. 30 pm on Saturday. This will be similar to Weekday Mass in length. We will also have Mass on Sunday at 10.30 am and this will be like our normal Sunday Mass as streamed over the last few months. During the week the Church will be open for Mass on Wednesday at 9.15. Mass on all other days will still be at the usual times. All of these Masses will still be streamed and no one will be seen on the streaming apart from Readers and Eucharistic Ministers and these are being shown with their permission. The 2m Social Distancing rule will apply at all times and because of this we are only able to have 50 people in the Church at any Mass. If you would like to come then please book a place. Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. This would seem to be the fairest way of doing this with such restricted numbers.
Booking places for Masses in Church this Week
You can now book places for next week’s Wednesday , Saturday and Sunday Masses at the Holy Spirit on the Diocesan online booking system. You just need register yourself. Please see the link to the site is https://massbooking.uk/users/register.php
You can either book single places up to 3 people, or book a Pew for 4 -6 people.
You can still book by telephone as well if you do not have access to the internet.
To book by telephone please contact: Kathy Doust 07757 644066 or 0115 9527804.
The deadline for booking Weekend Masses by telephone will always be Friday at 5pm and Monday at 3pm for the Wednesday Mass.
We cannot take any telephone bookings after those deadlines.
The deadline for online bookings is 23 hours and 50 minutes before Mass starts.
Please do not call the Parish office or the Priests to book places for attending Masses.
The Diocese strongly advises those over 70 and in a high risk category to think very carefully about attending Mass at the moment. There is no obligation to attend Mass and all Masses will still be streamed so please be on the side of caution when making your decision.
N.B. The Government have made wearing a face coverings mandatory to attend worship in a Church, therefore you must bring a mask to Mass with you to wear in church.
Children under 16 years must be accompanied by an adult.
If you are unwell, please do not attend Mass.
There is legally no requirement to wear a face covering as we are keeping the 2m social distancing rule but the choice is yours. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable and safe.
It would help if you could arrive at least 10 minutes before Mass starts. When you get to Church Sanitizer is available as you come into the porch, the Steward will check off your name on our list and then show you to your seat. The social distancing will only work if we follow the directions of the stewards so could we kindly ask that everyone does that. You will notice from the markings on the floor that we are operating a one way system in the Church
We would also ask that you stay seated for the whole of the Mass. This is to preserve the 2m distancing. Holy Communion will be distributed at the end of Mass so that we can go straight out after we have received Communion. We ask you to please receive Communion standing and in the hand. Once you have received Communion please follow the directions of the steward and leave by the door at the back of the Church.
If you would like to make a donation to the collection then the basket will be there as you leave. Please put your donation in an envelope.
Thank you to all who have volunteered to be Readers, Eucharistic Ministers and Stewards. We are very grateful to you for volunteering in the present situation as without you we could not open the Church for Mass.
Fr. Michael Brown and Fr. John McCay.
