Dear Friends

I was very glad to hear the Prime Minister announce that our churches will be allowed to open their doors to the public for worship from Sunday 5th July. It’s been a very long and difficult three months. As many people have commented locking down is the easy part, opening up will prove to be much more problematic, this seems to be the case. It seems there are new questions arising every day and not always that many answers. The clergy and Church Wardens will be meeting next week to discuss our approach. It would be easy to just attempt to go back to how it was pre- lockdown, but I think that would be a mistake, it would ignore the opportunities which have arisen and the possibility of looking at new ideas and opportunities. So for now, I think a cautious approach is required, coupled with the fact that Chiswick is fast approaching what I like to call its big sleep, we have a window of eight/nine weeks to analyse the threats and opportunities which present themselves – I know things have changed and I know that as a result of this situation people have taken the opportunity to reassess their priorities, so we need to plan for a new normal.. I think we will have a clearer understanding of our situation in the coming few  weeks. So slowly, slowly must be our motto, in the light of all we have experienced and in  the light of that which will emerge I want our response to be the right one securing the community of St Nicholas for years to come.

God Bless

Simon

PS we will be on-line this Sunday. More news about how Sunday 5th July will look next week.