As you will be aware, the NI Executive indicated yesterday that churches can resume meeting from the week beginning 29th June. This announcement is obviously a great encouragement to many of us. We have sorely missed being able to meet together as a church family over the past number of months.
That said, there will be some work required to allow us to meet together again. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland has produced some guidelines about services with social distancing restrictions in place. The Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland will also release guidelines next week regarding the size of gatherings and whether or not churches can sing during services.
With all that in mind, Kirk Session is going to meet in the coming weeks to discuss our transition back to church with social distancing restrictions in place. We will communicate with you about when we plan to reopen but it is my expectation that our online services will continue during July and August.
I appreciate that this may dampen some excitement that we have about meeting together again but it is important that we take as long as we need to make appropriate preparations for meeting again together. Much wisdom and patience will be required in the coming weeks. Please pray that the Lord would guide us as we think through these challenging issues.
Yours in Christ,
Stephen