In a letter to the congregation, the Rector, Rev Tim Storey, said: "A couple of months ago, the PCCs decided to suspend the offering of wine at Holy Communion in response to guidelines from the Diocese and since then only bread has been offered in our services. In recent weeks, there have been moves to revisit this decision and the Diocese issued revised Guidelines last week, indicating a view that they felt that the risk had lowered and, as a result, the Chalice could be reintroduced into services. The PCCs have been given an opportunity to consider this matter and decide whether we should follow the guidelines or whether it would be best to delay a decision until the situation is clearer. The PCCs have come to the conclusion that, on balance, they would like the wine to be offered again at Communion and so, as parishes we will therefore, follow Diocesan Guidelines and reintroduce the cup with immediate effect.
It should be pointed out that this will be an invitation for those who wish to receive to do so and not everyone will chose to do so at this time. It is also important to note that this requires on an understanding on the part of the Congregation that the means of disposal of any wine remaining at the end of the service will be at the discretion of the Celebrant and all Clergy celebrating at Communion have been asked to follow their conscience and have the freedom either to consume the remnant or dispose of it as they see fit. Finally, it is my hope and prayer that we will not see a fresh wave of the virus but should that be the case, we will need to review the situation as and when the situation arises.
Please will you continue to pray with me that the virus remains a lower threat and that we shall not have to revisit this decision."
For more information, contact the Parish Office at
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