St Giles PCC are very aware that whilst the legal restrictions that have been in place over the last 18 months have been removed, the ongoing advice from Government and Public Health Officials is to continue wearing masks in indoor spaces where groups gather. We were also conscious of Jesus' commandment to us, love on another as I have loved you. We need to to show that we love and care for our friends, neighbours, our worshipping community, and those who are vulnerable or anxious, at this stage of the pandemic.

So it has been decided to go slowly: we are desperate to throw our masks away, none of us want to prolong anyone's discomfort but in loving one another we need to make sure that the most vulnerable amongst us are as safe as possible. We don't wear face masks to protect ourselves, we wear them to protect those around us. - at the moment the PCC felt that encouraging people to continue wearing masks in Church was the most loving thing we could do.

We clearly can't 'require' people to continue to wear masks in Church but we are encouraging people to do so. We have also agreed that as singing with a mask on isn't that easy, we have decided not to sing hymns in Church over the summer. We have also decided to restrict numbers to 80 so there is plenty of space.

We are really sorry that we didn't feel able to go further at this stage but as a group we were unanimous - to love one another is to reduce the risk that this disease presents, particularly to those who are vulnerable . To rush forward would mean excluding those who, for very good reasons, are still exercising extra caution.