Remembrance Sunday
This Remembrance Sunday the church will be open for private prayer once we have finished streaming the parish mass (the church must remain closed while we do this by law) - so from about 10.45am. It will remain open until 1pm.
News
Lockdown Update
Following the government announcement of a new lockdown from November 5th, we have to advise you that sadly there will be no public worship from that date. Until the situation changes, or the guidlines change, all worship will be online.
Harvest Gifts
Harvest donations for local charities.
This year we asked our congregation to donate to two local charities. As a result we have sent
- £260 to Welcare in East Surrey
- £225 to the Caterham Foodbank
A great result - thank you to everyone who donated!
Harvest
See some pictures from our harvest Zoom coffee ane worship which followed our harvest service in church.
Harvest gifts
Harvest gifts
We are not able to hold our usual service for Harvest Thanksgiving this year, as due to the Covid19 restrictions in force we are limited to a maximum number of 50 people at each service.
However, we would still like to receive your gifts for families in need.
What charities are you supporting?
This year we are collecting for both WelCare in East Surrey and the Caterham Foodbank.
How can I give my gift?
We do not need any gifts of food this year. Please give your gift in the form of a cheque or (for WelCare only) a supermarket voucher. You should make your cheque payable to either WelCare in East Surrey or Caterham Foodbank.
Put your cheque for either charity, or your vouchers for Welcare, in an envelope and mark it Harvest. your gifts can be brought to a church service from now until Sunday 4th, or you can drop it to the vicarage by Wednesday 7th at the latest.
Thanking you all in advance for your generosity.
Cancellation of Special Services
During the autumn there are in "normal" times a number of special services.
Given the current restrictions in force as a result of the Covid19 pandemic, numbers are currently limited in church services so that we can maintain social distancing. Despite the size of the building, once we have socially distancied it is not possible to sit any more that 50 people at a service.
Sadly this means that this year we are unable to hold the following services, both of which would normally have congregations of 200-300:
- Harvest Thanksgiving
- Remembrance Sunday
Face Coverings to be mandatory
It has been announced today by the Prime Minister that from the 8th August face masks will be mandatory in church and enforceable by law. We'll clarify this further once we have fuller details from the Church of England and the Diocese.
Face Coverings
Following the new rules set by the government, the Church of England has now updated its guidelines. It is now advising that all those attending worship in church should wear a face covering. While it is not compulsory, we would encourage all those attending services at St. John's to wear a face covering during worship from this Sunday (July 26th) if possible. Thank you for your understanding.
Posted Services
Now we are back in church it isn't possible to record the parish mass for showing on Sunday. The church needs to be kept empty for 72 hours prior to the Sunday parish mass, otherwise we have to clean the church.
We are currently looking into alternative ways of bringing the Sunday service to you live. In the meantime, we will be recording each Sunday's gospel and sermon for you in the Vicarage and posting it each week at 10am on Sunday.
Opening the Doors
Returning to the Church
Most of you will be aware that the government has now said that we may return to worship in our churches for public worship from the 4th July.
So what are our plans at St John's?
We are aiming to be ready to re-open for our weekly Sunday mass from the 5th July. We are currently assessing what it is we need to do to get the church ready. It will not, of course, be 'back to normal' as there will be restrictions in place. We will be ensuring that social distancing is observed and that sanitisation facilities are available. For the time being there will be no singing. We'll be able to give a clearer picture of how things will work once we have received any fianl instructions from the C of E and the Diocese on reopening.
We are also planning to restart our Thursday morning 10am mass from 9th July, again with all necessary precautions in place. Having services on Sundays and Thursdays will mean we can have three days between each service. The only exception to that is for any funerals or weddings we might have, in which case the church will be cleaned before and after each of those services. We are still waiting for permission to restart baptism services.
Coming back into church will mean a change to what we have been offering online, as we cannot film in the church on Saturday and then hold a service on Sunday. Not everyone will be able to come back to church, of course. And so we are looking at what other options there are for us to provide spiritual support for those who won't be able to return to church yet, so you can still join with us each Sunday.