Fr Patrick writes…
I would like to add another instalment to the Coronavirus Diary. The last instalment was on page 6 of the September edition of the Parish Magazine.
Since the government relaxed most of the coronavirus rules on 19th July, infection rates across the county have remained quite high, mostly amongst unvaccinated people, many of whom are young. However, because most older people are vaccinated, the high infection rate has led to relatively few hospitalisations and deaths.
There has been a steady pattern of parish activities returning to normal:
25th July – 3pm Evensong recommenced at St Michael’s Baddesley Clinton (2nd & 4th Sundays).
5th September – the 8.30am Said Eucharist at St Mary’s returned from twice monthly to weekly. The Wednesday Eucharist in the Lady Chapel at St Mary’s also returned to its normal pattern in September.
21st September – the Lapworth PCC agreed to stop the advanced booking arrangements for attending services. A seating plan was no longer produced, but people were still seated in a socially distanced way, and still encouraged to ware facemasks. A similar easing followed at St Michael’s three weeks later. Facemasks have gradually been worn less in this period.
27th September – Very sadly, Rhett Hume became the first member of the St Mary’s worshipping community to die from coronavirus. The church was nearly full for his funeral on 14th October, which made social distancing impossible. This would have caused grave concern a few months earlier, but people increasingly trust the vaccine to keep them safe in such situations, although Rhett himself had not been vaccinated.
7th October – MOLES (Men of Lapworth Evening Society) restarted after the lockdowns.
10th October – the [email protected] service restarted at St Mary’s, albeit only once a month.
17th October – the Junior Choir restarted at St Mary’s.
The first Parish Lunch since the lockdowns is now scheduled for 14th November.