Risk Assessment and Covid-19 safety at St Mary Abbots
During the Pandemic we have followed the guidelines provided by the Government and the church leaders in order to keep visitors, our congregations and the people working in the building as safe as possible.
We have put in place a number of safety precautions to help you and the most vulnerable stay safe:
These measures include:
- Using hand sanitiser provided at the doors of the church
- Maintaining a 2 metre distance from other people not in your household
- Every other pew has been roped off. Please only sit in the un-roped pews
- Please do not attend any service if you have any Covid symptoms and taking a PCR test where possible before attending a service
- Following the one way system
The virgers, sidespeople and church staff will politely ask people to follow these rules and will, in extremis and with great reluctance, ask people to leave the church if they are not prepared to comply with them.
Clergy and Congregations
Based on the advice given by the Diocese of London the clergy have amended aspects of Holy Communion as follows:
In March 2020 we asked the congregation not to engage in any of the usual social and physical exchanges such as shaking hands, hugging and kissing cheeks when meeting friends in church. This, and now keeping a distance of 2 metres, is of course still the case.
Based on the advice given by the Diocese of London the clergy have amended aspects of Holy Communion as follows:
- Suspending the administration of the Chalice. Communion will be consecrated wafer/ bread only, with the priest alone taking the
- We have suspended handshaking or other direct physical contact during the peace.
- We have suspended direct physical contact as part of a blessing or laying on of hands.
- We have cut hymns to stop people singing during the service. The cantor and organist who provide music during the service are socially distanced from the people in the church and each other.
- Thanks to the vestry team the church remains open daily for private prayer from 10am to 2pm.
- We have amended our service pattern to include two Holy Eucharists and Matins on Sundays, A Holy Eucharists on Tuesday and Thursday and a daily Midday Prayer. This pattern of services has been changed and amended as the Covid-19 demands.
- Ministers to say goodbye from the pews at the back of the church and in the cloister, to avoid bottlenecks forming.
In March 2020 we asked the congregation not to engage in any of the usual social and physical exchanges such as shaking hands, hugging and kissing cheeks when meeting friends in church. This, and now keeping a distance of 2 metres, is of course still the case.
Setting up the church:
In order to make the church as safe as possible and to keep people at a distance we have changed the layout of the church:
Newsletters and Service Sheets:
In order to minimise the risk of infection we have amended the use of paper in the church as follows:
Larger services and concerts:
For the larger services we have implemented a system where tickets are checked in the cloister by two sidespeople and people are then directed through the church yard to the North door. Here more sides people take them forward to their seats, filling the church up from the front to the back. As with the day to day opening system alternative pews have been roped off and the choir and orchestra kept at several metres distance being separated at the front or side of the church.
At the end of the service the front of the church is roped off and those seated at the front asked to leave via the cloister. The people at the back are asked to leave via the North doors, through the church yard and the gardens. We have had to encourage people gently not to stand and talk in groups but to leave quickly.
For sold out events or for special services reserved seating has been put in place.
In order to give as many people as possible to opportunity to attend special services we have put on each service twice, one at 3.30 and one at 6.30, allowing time to set up and clean the church in-between performances.
In order to make the church as safe as possible and to keep people at a distance we have changed the layout of the church:
- Alternate pews are roped off to make sure people sit away from each other. On Sundays alternate pews are roped off between services. During the week the back of the church is roped off entirely.
- The church is cleaned between services and every evening by the virgers and by our volunteers.
- We have limed the number of people in the church from just under 800 to 150 people.
- The vestry is roped off and a notice warning people that no lavatories are available.
- To monitor the numbers in the church we have asked people in our communications to book a seat on Eventbrite. This not only helps monitor numbers, and provides their details should we need to contact them, but saves the sides people asking for details at the door, reducing any waiting time in the cloister. For people who do not have access to the internet they can contact either Leonora at the vicarage or the Petter, the Parish Manger to book a place.
- For the larger and more popular services, there is a maximum number of 150 people with an Eventbrite ticket.
- We have given the school the use of the church yard so there is currently only one entrance point to the church via the cloister.
- The Sunday Groups have been moved to the long playground (weather permitting) or in the centre to enable social distancing.
Newsletters and Service Sheets:
In order to minimise the risk of infection we have amended the use of paper in the church as follows:
- We asked people who attend regularly take their service sheets away and to bring it back with them to reuse. This has the added bonus of saving paper.
- We also asked people to throw service sheets away in the recyling bin by the door rather than leaving them on the pews for sidespeople to collect.
- We no longer provided a physical copy of the newsletter, although it was available on our website. For those who do not have the internet they could contact the vicarage and the newsletter would be sent to them.
Larger services and concerts:
For the larger services we have implemented a system where tickets are checked in the cloister by two sidespeople and people are then directed through the church yard to the North door. Here more sides people take them forward to their seats, filling the church up from the front to the back. As with the day to day opening system alternative pews have been roped off and the choir and orchestra kept at several metres distance being separated at the front or side of the church.
At the end of the service the front of the church is roped off and those seated at the front asked to leave via the cloister. The people at the back are asked to leave via the North doors, through the church yard and the gardens. We have had to encourage people gently not to stand and talk in groups but to leave quickly.
For sold out events or for special services reserved seating has been put in place.
In order to give as many people as possible to opportunity to attend special services we have put on each service twice, one at 3.30 and one at 6.30, allowing time to set up and clean the church in-between performances.
Public Risk Assessment
For more information please see our Risk Assessment for Public Worship.
For more information please see our Risk Assessment for Public Worship.
