Coming to Church
Whether you
attended services regularly or have never been before, you may be wondering
what it will be like to attend a service in church at this unusual time. We
hope that we can ease any of your concerns and prepare you for the experience
with the information below, but please remember you do not need to be in the
church building to worship God, and there are many alternatives still
available, including Sunday morning Zoom services with other Methodist churches in Weston.
For many of you it will feel like a strange land and, sadly, we will not be able to hold a service in our usual style. We will be following government policies and guidelines carefully, because we want to keep everyone as safe as possible and ensure we are behaving responsibly before both God and the community. It is important for us all to remember that the virus is very real, and however careful we may be, nowhere is 100% safe.
The weekly notice sheets will continue to be emailed or delivered; if you are not currently receiving these and would like to please use the contact us page and we can add you to either list. The weekly sheet also has details of other service formats available if you feel the time is not yet right for you to join us in worship at the church.
Book Your Seat
A maximum of
20 people will be able to come to worship, so there is a booking system in
place. This is run by Elaine McKenna who is one of our stewards. Each week you
will need to book your place and you must do this during the week leading up to
the service. Elaine will take telephone bookings between 7pm on the Monday and
7pm on the Friday before each service. You can contact her on 01934 514602.
If there are no spaces available, you will be given priority for the
next week and we will try to make it as fair as possible.
What to Expect
All the books
have been removed from the church to make the cleaning process easier. Any
words used during the service will be projected on the screens. If you find it
difficult to read from the screen, please mention it to Elaine when you book
your seat and we will arrange for you to have a paper copy, which you should
take home with you and recycle afterwards. You may bring your own hymn book.
(We may read or listen to hymns, as the presiding minister decides.)
When you
arrive in the car park please remember to social distance, even outside.
Everyone will go into church via the ramp and only 1 person, or a household,
can be allowed in the vestibule at a time. This means you may need to wait at
the door or you may need to wait on the ramp like you do at the supermarkets.
There is tape on the ramp to indicate 2m distancing, so you can easily see
where to stand whilst you wait to go in.
In the
vestibule there is hand sanitizer to use and a collection box for your
offerings, so please post your offering in there on your way in or as you
leave. You will not be able to leave your coats in the vestibule, so please
take them with you into the church.
As you enter
the church you will be greeted by a steward in the aisle, who will direct you
to your seat. To maintain social distancing, only certain seats can be used and
you must remain in the seat you have been given until asked to leave at the end
of the service. The first people in will need to sit at the front and will
leave last as directed by the steward. At the end of the service please stay
seated until the steward asks you to leave. We will need to leave in reverse
order of arrival.
Throughout your visit the toilet in the vestibule will be open for use. You will be asked to sanitise your hands before entering and to wipe everything you have touched with the supplied antibacterial wipes before leaving. Don’t forget to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water.
During the service the law requires that we DO NOT sing, so although we may hear music from hymns you MUST NOT sing, instead we encourage you to ponder the words in your heart. The words of any hymns that we listen to will be projected and it will give us a chance to really consider the meaning of these beautiful melodies and lyrics. We are also required to wear a face mask at ALL TIMES unless you have an exemption. Please wear the face mask correctly with it covering BOTH your mouth and nose for the duration of the service and whilst you are in the building. We know this can feel uncomfortable and strange but we must enforce these rules so as to comply with the Government requirements for opening the building.