Dear Clergy, Readers/LLMs and churchwardens,
You may have seen that there has been an announcement from the Prime Minister this morning that face coverings will be mandatory in places of worship from Sunday 8th August. Regrettably we were not aware of this when the previous update was sent, but we felt that some further clarification might be helpful.
The Church of England has produced their own update on this, which is reproduced below. As you can see, they are reviewing this and will issue more information next week. Once we have received this then we will do the same.
Church of England Update Friday 31 July at 13:30
The Prime Minister has outlined plans to make face coverings mandatory in Places of Worship from 8th August and has withdrawn guidance to permit indoor professional performances with immediate effect. We will study detailed government regulations and guidance once they are available and will update our guidance accordingly.
In the meantime, we continue to strongly advise that face coverings should be worn by all those attending a place of worship, including ministers, worshippers, staff, volunteers, contractors and visitors, where there may be other people present; remembering that they are mainly intended to protect other people, not the wearer, from coronavirus (COVID-19) and that they are not a replacement for physical distancing and regular hand washing.
Yours
Phil
The Venerable Phil Williams
Archdeacon of Nottingham