Joining us onsite over the summer? Here’s how it’s going to work…
There is one onsite gathering at 10am for 6 Summer Sundays, starting from 1st August. This is an hour long gathering with time to worship (and SING!), pray, celebrate Communion together, as well as hear a Bible message as we explore the theme: ‘The Practice of Neighbouring’. Here we will be digging into different topics that will help us to take the next, simple steps in connecting with, and serving, the people immediately around us.
You still need to book seats for these gatherings so that we can manage our building capacity. There will be the option to book single, double or triple seats. Most seating will be at 1m+ spacing but if you would prefer to sit 2m spacing you can indicate this when you book. Bookings will be available on the STC Eventbrite page for ALL the Summer Sundays from Monday 26th July at 8pm.
‘While we recognise that ‘freedom day’ will be met by many with a huge sigh of relief, for others it will cause concern and confusion. While we follow Government guidance and guidelines from the Church of England we always take our cue from Scripture. In 1 Corinthians 8: 9-13 the Apostle Paul calls on people to use their freedom (in this context – the freedom to eat particular foods) to be wise and not to eat specific foods that would may cause another Christian to stumble or get upset. I think there’s real wisdom here for us as a church family. The truth is, we could throw away our masks. But for some in our community who have real genuine concerns about their health they would not feel safe returning to the church building. It’s my heart that, for a short season, we continue to wear masks so that so that we can gather as many as we possibly can. We’ll need to heed Paul’s wisdom to the Colossians to ‘Bear with one another’ (Colossians 3:13) as we continue to journey through this season. – Tom Finnemore
We are currently working out what the lifting of restrictions means for gathering at STC so that everyone feels safe and comfortable returning to the building. There will be further changes in September, but these are the measures that will be in place for the 6 Summer Sundays:
On arrival – please sanitise hands and check in with the stewards. There will be a QR code available to scan for those who wish to check in through the NHS app.
Face coverings and social distancing – Government guidance states “it expects and recommends that masks are worn in enclosed and crowded spaces where you may come into contact with people you do not normally meet”. Therefore at STC we are asking people to continue to wear a mask indoors unless exempt over this summer period. We recognise that in this summer transition period this will help people feel comfortable being in the church building and joining in worship (because we’ll be able to sing again!).
Chairs will be spaced at 1m+; please respect other people’s space. There will also be an area with 2m spacing of chairs – when you book please indicate if you would prefer to sit in this area.
Cancelling – Please do not attend if you are experiencing any Covid-19 symptoms, have tested positive or are awaiting the results of a Covid-19 test. If you are no longer able to attend for this or any other reason, please cancel your seat on Eventbrite (click the ‘view and manage’ link in your confirmation email) – thank you!
Exit – We will be exiting via the main doors onto the village square. Please feel free to mingle once you have cleared the doorway and steps.
We CAN’T WAIT to see you! Remember, there are also Family Summer Sundays online at the same time, on YouTube and Facebook, at 10am.