The government has announced that church buildings will be permitted to open for private prayer from 15th June. This announcement means that each of the churches of the Tadcaster Benefice are able to consider this limited reopening of our buildings.
This news has come with very short notice – and earlier than had previously been indicated – and we need to ensure that there has been proper time to plan and that all of our Churchwardens and Parochial Church Councils (PCCs) have had time to discuss what is going to happen.
We are awaiting clarification and advice from the Church of England nationally and from the Diocese of York over the coming days as to how best to respond to this announcement. We will update you when we have further information to share. It is highly unlikely that any of our buildings will be ready to open on 15th June.
It is important that we get the balance right. We need to protect our volunteers who would need to open and close the buildings, do thorough cleaning and sanitizing and be there as required when the building is open, and we also need to protect the people who want to come and pray. Equally, we know just how special our churches are to people and we know that there will be people who very much want to be able to come into a special and sacred space to pray. We will make our churches available for individual prayer as soon as we safely can.
Throughout the closure of our churches, prayers and services have continued in people’s homes and gardens and on Zoom. All of this will continue when our churches open for individual prayer and we will keep you updated via social media, our website and the notice sheet.
We are praying for you and we are here to support you. Please get in touch if you want a chat, if you have any comments about church reopening or if there is anything that you want us to pray for.
God bless,
Reverend Simon Biddlestone (Curate)
This news has come with very short notice – and earlier than had previously been indicated – and we need to ensure that there has been proper time to plan and that all of our Churchwardens and Parochial Church Councils (PCCs) have had time to discuss what is going to happen.
We are awaiting clarification and advice from the Church of England nationally and from the Diocese of York over the coming days as to how best to respond to this announcement. We will update you when we have further information to share. It is highly unlikely that any of our buildings will be ready to open on 15th June.
It is important that we get the balance right. We need to protect our volunteers who would need to open and close the buildings, do thorough cleaning and sanitizing and be there as required when the building is open, and we also need to protect the people who want to come and pray. Equally, we know just how special our churches are to people and we know that there will be people who very much want to be able to come into a special and sacred space to pray. We will make our churches available for individual prayer as soon as we safely can.
Throughout the closure of our churches, prayers and services have continued in people’s homes and gardens and on Zoom. All of this will continue when our churches open for individual prayer and we will keep you updated via social media, our website and the notice sheet.
We are praying for you and we are here to support you. Please get in touch if you want a chat, if you have any comments about church reopening or if there is anything that you want us to pray for.
God bless,
Reverend Simon Biddlestone (Curate)
