Unfortunately, though, with the new restrictions, we won't be able to have our Advent party of mulled wine and nibbles after it. Hopefully, next year.
Come along.
All most welcome.
St Andrew's RC Church Bearsden |
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This Friday's Carol singing Advent reflection is still on ~ 7pm in St Andrew’s.
Unfortunately, though, with the new restrictions, we won't be able to have our Advent party of mulled wine and nibbles after it. Hopefully, next year. Come along. All most welcome.
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In the light of the renewed advice from the Scottish Government to work from home wherever possible, it has been decided to close the Curial Offices from this evening (Tuesday 14th December).
They will remain closed until at least 10th January 2022, at which point the situation will be re-evaluated. Apart from the statutory holidays (and any personal annual leave due to individuals), staff will be working from home and can be contacted by email for any enquiry you might have. The First Minister made an announcement this afternoon about restrictions in the light of Omicron.
In her speech she said that places of worship will remain open, but that appropriate mitigations will need to be in place. Throughout her speech she emphasised that more details will be published over the next few days, so I will update parishes when we know what the mitigations are. The First Minister also recommended that socialising should be minimised, which again impacts on the advisability of Christmas parties etc., and that if socialisation does go ahead groups should not involve more than three households. Priests are encouraged to test regularly and to encourage parishioners to do the same. Before lockdown, Mary Silcock, St Andrew’s Sacristan, asked the embroidery group to create a new altar cloth and lectern fall for the Blessed Sacrament chapel.
The group took inspiration from the existing pieces that featured a lamb and the ‘labarum’ motif with the letters of the Greek alphabet P and X that stood for Christ. Researching medieval images of the fruits of Christ, they created a lamb central piece, surrounded by fruits, leaves and stars and encircled this in couched gold work. This was for the lectern fall. For the altar cloth they used gold couching and chip work to create the central labarum and light gold chain stitch and blue beads on the four crosses that are placed on each corner. The inspiration for the crosses was taken from the silver tabernacle that is in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. Sadly Mary Silcock passed away before the work was completed, (delayed by more than a year due to Covid). However, it was fitting that they were unveiled after Mass on the 8th December, one year after her passing. Volunteers are needed, please, for the remainder of this month of December and for early January to help with pick up of supermarket surplus food items, as volumes are increased at this period.
This would involve picking up early morning and delivery to Foodbanks and centres for the homeless. If you can help, please contact veronicamcl@sky.com This service is needed even more during the Christmas & New Year school holidays. From : Canon Gargaro, Diocesan Coordinator
The recent announcements by the UK and Scottish Governments highlight their growing concerns about omicron. So far there have been no changes to the legal rules in Scotland, but the tone of the announcements is that this may be a real possibility in the coming days or weeks. There has been no suggestion, so far, about any changes to the rules on worship. If there are any changes I will let you know. What we, as parishes, do need to think about just now are social events. If you have Christmas parties or other social events planned, whether for parishioners or just as hires for parish halls, should these go ahead? There is no ban in place, and we know that restaurants, pubs, night clubs, etc. can currently function as normal, but for the safety of both attendees and parish staff/volunteers (such as those acting as bar staff, waiters, etc. in halls) we should risk assess any events and decide whether it is safe for them to go ahead. This might also apply to plans for refreshments after Christmas Masses or after carol services, etc. If the parish is providing catering you might also need to consider the risk of buying lots of food in, when events might be cancelled later (whether by the parish or the organisers, or by legislation). As I have said previously, we also need to think about church capacity if we expect busy Christmas Masses and how to safely manage that, so too with large attendances at baptisms, weddings, or funerals. And, as unpopular as it is, the experts keep emphasising the importance of good ventilation, even in our cold weather. It is vitally important as many people as possible respond to this consultation. If this bill were to pass into law doctors would be authorised to prescribe drugs with the sole purpose of killing the patient, not healing them. For the first time in Scotland, or in any other part of the UK, suicide would be encouraged for some people, rather than seen as a tragedy to be prevented. Please help to send a strong message to Mr. McArthur, MSPs and the Scottish Government: that assisted suicide is a dangerous and unethical practice that must never be legalised in Scotland or any other part of the UK.The consultation is running until Wednesday 22 December 2021. Please complete the questionnaire as soon as you can and encourage others to do the same. You can find resources to help you do this at https://www.spuc.org.uk/assisteddyingscotlandconsultation”and please view and share this video https://youtu.be/ry-u_PgLHNU December 2021 Campaign: Add your name to the open letter to the UK Government asking for safe routes to the UK for refugees and asylum seekers.
Go to www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk |
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St Andrew's RC Church
29 Roman Road Bearsden Glasgow G61 2SN Telephone : 0141 942 4635 Email : standrew@rcag.org.uk |