As you know guidance has become stricter almost day by day. As a result we have decided, with much sadness, that we are not able to open the church in a manner that is safe and so it will be closed until further notice.

We are still going ahead with the weekly news sheet as per the information below.

Communication from St Mary's

As you may know the Church of England, in its response to Government advice on social distancing and safeguarding the vulnerable, has decided that it is no longer possible for public worship to take place. As a consequence all Sunday services at St Mary's are cancelled until further notice as well as the Thursday service at Dunton Green. We are looking at ways of ensuring that there is still a meaningful church presence for parishioners.

Firstly, we plan to open the church each day between around 9am and 5pm so that private prayer can take place or people can simply sit in peace.

Secondly, we plan to continue our weekly news sheet. This will contain suggested bible readings appropriate to that week, prayers and information about any wider events/initiatives. For example, some churches will hold a service that can be streamed so people can participate remotely. We will send this out electronically and have it in our website (stmaryriverhead.co.uk). We will also be inviting people to join the distribution group for the news sheet.