Good morning to you all,
As you know it is now about two months since our church reopened after lockdown and so far the operation has gone smoothly. We hope those of you who are able to join us here in the church for Mass feel safe and don’t find our Covid related regulations too onerous.
This has been a new experience for all of us and we are learning as we go along. We are also keeping the operation under review in line with Covid developments and updated guidelines from our Health Services. In light of most recent directives, we feel now is the time for a little “fine tuning” to help keep everybody safe while they worship here in Balally.
Since reopening we have been accommodating our family groups upstairs in the Choir Gallery. Experience however has shown us that in certain weather conditions that space may not be adequately ventilated for our Covid-19 world. So beginning next Saturday we are trying a new arrangement. From then, Family seating will be provided here on the ground floor in the outer seat rows on the Car Park side of the church – (that is here to my left as I look down or to your right as you enter the church). Seat allocations in the rest of the church will be unchanged.
By next Saturday the seat markings will be changed and our stewards will be able to show you to the correct areas. Our booking system has been updated to reflect the structure.
And a word about booking to attend Mass:
To comply with Covid-19 regulations we have to keep records of everyone who attends Mass. The best way to do this is through our booking system so I would appeal to everybody who wishes to attend Mass to book in advance. You can do this online through our web site or by telephone to the Parish Office.
And PLEASE don’t just turn up if you haven’t booked. You will be very disappointed if you can’t be admitted and it is embarassing for our stewards to have to turn people away.
Because of our restricted capacity it is not possible to facilitate everyone who wishes to attend Mass on Sundays. So maybe give others a chance to book for some Sundays, or maybe you could attend on a different day of the week.
And finally a word of thanks
To all of you have been so good at complying with these previously unheard of regulations. We appreciate you can no longer sit in your normal seat and you have to enter and leave in strange ways, but you have made it possible to bring some degree of normality back to our worship. I know our stewards greatly appreciate the way you have all cooperated in making the operation work so smoothly.
And to our stewards for keeping us all safe and comfortable while we attend Mass.
Balally Parish PPC
