RE-OPENING ST JOSEPH’S CHURCH FOR THE CELEBRATION OF MASS
If you know of Parishioners who do not have access to the internet, please consider printing consider printing this information off for them . Thank you
We are pleased to announce that we expect to re-open St Joseph and the English Martyrs church for some public Masses from 1st August 2020 at 6pm. Due to the regulations the Church will only be able to hold 36 people.
However please be aware there will be strict rules in operation and, for the time being, coming to Mass may not be quite how you remember it.
In order to comply with both Government and Diocesan COVID-19 regulations, there will be strict limitations on the number of people that are allowed in the Church at any one time and therefore we will be operating a ‘Booking System’ for attendance at each Mass via our website or a telephone call to the Parish Office during working hours (9am – 3pm). The Church will have to be thoroughly cleaned after each Mass and closed for the rest of the day.
So, please check our Parish Website for up to date information on Mass dates and times. Bear in mind that there will be some days that no Mass will be celebrated in August and September. All persons who have Mass Intentions for those dates have been contacted.
The obligation to attend Mass on a Sunday is still suspended. We, therefore, encourage people, if it is possible, to consider attending Mass on one of the weekdays, as this will free up more places for the two weekend Masses on Saturday evening and Sunday morning.
During August,we think, at the moment, that the Mass schedule will be:
| MASS DAY | MASS TIME | COMMENTS |
| Saturday Vigil | 6pm | Places to be booked online or via the Parish Office |
| Sunday | 9am | Places to be booked online or via the Parish Office |
| Sunday | 11am | Mass via the livestream ONLY. This is not a public Mass. The Church will be CLOSED during this Mass |
| Sunday | 6pm | Cancelled for August |
| Monday, Tuesday, (NOT Wednesday),Thursday, and Friday | 9.30am | Places to be booked online or via the Parish Office. |
The online Booking System will be open daily for booking your slot for Mass. You can only book for one individual Mass. You cannot block book for Masses. This is to encourage everyone to have a fair chance to attend Mass at least once a week. If you do not book your slot for Mass, and your name is not on our list, you will not be able to attend the Mass.
Places will be made available for a coming week (Sat evening Mass to Friday morning Mass, inclusive), from the Friday morning of the week before, 9am. (that means a full week ahead) . So, booking for the weeks of August are as below:
Masses Sat 1 to Fri 7 August – booking from 9am Fri 24 July
Masses Sat 8 to Fri 14 August – booking from 9am Fri 31 July
Masses Sat 15 – Fri 21 August – booking from 9am Fri 7 August
Masses Sat 22 – Fri 28 August – booking from 9am Fri 14 August
Why do I need to book to attend a Mass?
In line with the latest Government and Diocesan Guidelines, it is most important that we can ‘track and trace’ everyone who comes to Mass in the event that someone tests positive for COVID-19 at the Mass which you have attended. It will help us to ensure that we have the number of people permitted in the Church at any one time and keep both our Priests and Parishioners safe. Therefore, you must inform us beforehand by ‘booking’ your place via our website or telephone if you are asking to attend to a particular Mass. You cannot ‘just turn up’ as you would have previously done. If your name is not on the list, you will not be able to enter the Church. Please understand that this is for your wellbeing and that of others.
How do I book to attend a Mass ?
If you have access to the internet, then visit the ‘Events’ page our Parish website:
https://parish.rcdow.org.uk/bishopsstortford/events/
where you will find a list of Mass dates and times. Please do not book a place if you are feeling unwell or have COVID-19 related symptoms. Mass dates will be ‘released’ on the dates noted above.
Choose the Mass date/ time which you wish to attend and click on ‘Book Ticket’.
You will then be led through a short screen requiring you to enter your name and a contact telephone number for the particular Mass you wish to book. Once submitted, your details will be registered on the parish ‘guest list’ so that we are aware as to who will be attending. Your name will be checked off by one of the stewards when you arrive. Please arrive at least 20 minutes before the starting time of Mass to allow time for sanitising your hands and being shown to your place before the Mass begins. Your details will be kept for 21 days following each Mass to enable us to provide details to the ‘track & trace’ system should an outbreak occur.
Full details of the Privacy Notice can be found at www.rcdow.org.uk/privacy-policy
If you want to book for a family or a household ‘bubble’, please do not use the website booking but phone the office direct (01279 654063), Mon to Fri, 9am – 3pm, to make your booking directly with Debbie Jackson.
What if I do not have access to the internet ?
Please contact the Parish Office on 01279 654063 on or after the booking dates listed above and your details will be entered manually onto the Booking System by Debbie Jackson so that you appear on the guest list if there are free places. If you have not supplied your details before hand you will not be able to attend the Mass.
What happens when I arrive at the Church ?
- Entry to St Joseph’s will be through the main doors ONLY (If you have parked in the car park, you will be required to walk around past Windhill House to the main entrance on Windhill, being mindful that cars may be entering the main car park gate. There is a strict One Way system in operation in the Church. Cardinals Walk and the doorway nearest to the external notice board and defibrillator will be for Exit Only) The central aisle is part of the One Way route.
- Please try not to bring lots of bags, children’s toys, belongings with you as space will be limited in the Church.
- Please feel comfortable to wear a mask in Church to help to protect yourself and others. Volunteer Stewards and Cleaners will be provided with gloves and masks.
- You will be greeted by Volunteer Stewards who will have the ‘Guest list’ for that particular Mass. This list gives your name and the number of places booked only and not your contact number. As long as your name is on the list you will be invited into the church. If your name is not on the list you will not be able to enter the church.
- You will be asked to ‘sanitise’ your hands with the hand gel provided upon entry and shown to your seat. It will not be possible to sit in a particular seat. People will be seated from the front of the church in the order in which they arrive. Each seat will be at a safe distance from the next.
- There will be NO Holy water as you enter and NO hymn books provided as sadly singing is not permitted. We will also not be providing daily or weekly Mass sheets either. If you wish to print out your own Mass sheet, and bring it with you and take it home afterwards, this will be available on our website as it is currently. Please remember to take your printed copy home with you.
- The Toilets will be closed. No Exceptions!
- The Repository and Information Area will be closed.
- The Confessional will be closed. The Sacrament of Reconciliation (confession) can be celebrated with Fr Carlos after weekday Mass (during August) between 10.15am – 10.45am only, and appointments will need to be booked via the office. Confessions will be heard outside and not inside the Church.
- The Lady Chapel will be closed and there will be NO Candles
- There will be NO requirement for Readers, Eucharistic Ministers or Servers to assist at Mass at the current time. The Sanctuary area and the Sacristy will be restricted and accessible only to Fr Peter and Fr Carlos
- There will be NO physical sign of peace by shaking hands.
- At the end of Mass, Communion will be distributed under one kind by Father into your hand only. Parishioners on each pew will be called up in turn. Please take all of your belongings with you at that time as immediately after you have received the Blessed Sacrament you will not be permitted to return to your place but will be requested to leave the Church following the signed one way system exiting down the side aisles and the side porches. The main doors are for entry only, however any Parishioners with mobility issues and who require the use of the ramp will be assisted out of these doors by the Stewards.
- Please sanitise your hands again before you leave with the hand gel provided.
- Collection buckets will be provided near to each exit point for your weekly donations under the eye of the Stewards.
- Immediately, when the Church is empty, the Stewards / Cleaners will sanitise each pew, door handles, sweep and wash the floor. Disposable aprons, gloves and cleaning equipment will be provided.
- Collection money will be ‘bagged’ by the Stewards and given to Father to be kept in the safe for 72 hours before counting and banking.
- Any rubbish (including paper, gloves, masks and aprons) will be ‘double bagged’ and disposed of in the black bins in Cardinals walk.
- Any ‘found property’ left in the pews will be double bagged and if not collected will be disposed of.
As the current situation is anticipated to continue in the months ahead, we still need more volunteers to make all this work.
We need more people to act as Stewards each time the Church is open, and also more people to help with the cleaning of the Church after each Mass.
If we cannot recruit enough people then we will not be able to open as often as we have said we wish to.
If you can help, please do contact the Parish Office. Thank you very much.