-
Covid Update April 2021
RECAP OF COVID CHANGES STARTING April 25, 2021
Last weekend at the end of all of the Masses I announced a few changes in procedure that we will begin to implement beginning this weekend here at St. Bridget’s.
We try to keep up to date on the latest directives from the State of Minnesota and the Archdiocese. The first Monday of each month the Minnesota Department of Health (MNDH) presents a Zoom based webinar for Faith Based Organization Leaders that Jessica and I usually attend by computer. It includes an update on the current Covid situation in the state, regulations, suggested best practices and answers to questions from participants. The second source of information that we keep an eye on is the ongoing guidelines issued by the Archdiocese. The tone of these directives has changed from edicts in the early days of Covid to more of suggestions in recent times.
Given all of this information, we have decided that it is now safe to implement the following practices:
1) The return of hymnals in the pews. The latest guidelines from the Archdiocese contain the following sentence: Interestingly, according to the MNDH, “Sharing books, hymnals, and religious texts by people from one service to the next does not pose a significant risk of spreading COVID-19.”
Therefore, return of the hymnals provides not only the words to the songs that we sing, but also words to the common prayers used in the Mass (Gloria and Creed) and the texts of the weekend Scripture readings.
However, even with the return of the hymnals we still ask that all people continue to wear the mask even when singing, and that they sing gently for now.
2) We will discontinue the registration/sign-in process as people enter. This should eliminate a bottleneck at times in the Narthex. If a person were to later test positive who had attended a particular Mass, we would alert all Mass attendees that weekend electronically at what Mass this occurred and to be alert to any symptoms they might be exhibiting. (Please be up to date with Evangelus, our electronic messaging service).
We will still keep a person in the Narthex as a greeter as you enter and to “click” your presence so that we can get an accurate count of attendees at each Mass.
3) We will discontinue sanitizing after each Mass since the virus is now understood to be transmitted primarily by air, not by touch on surfaces. We will still disinfect the whole church, but not as frequently. In addition, we will still provide disinfecting wipes and supplies on the pew in the Narthex if anyone should want to wipe down their own particular seat before or after they use it.
4) We will thus far continue to require masks and social distancing at all services as we have in the past. I have been very pleased with the attentiveness that virtually all attendees have shown for these requirements. Thanks you so much! It shows your care for both yourself and your neighbor. Hopefully the danger will continue to decrease as more people get vaccinated. We will also continue to use ushers to dismiss pew by pew for Communion and at the end of Mass.
5) We will continue to provide hand sanitizer stations in the Narthex, and in the aisles leading to communion. I have added back a second Eucharistic Minister besides myself to distribute the Body of Christ in the center aisle and speed the traffic flow as our numbers have slowly climbed.
And speaking of numbers…as the graph below shows, our attendance numbers continue to climb ever so slowly – hovering now around a total of 400 people for the three weekend Masses. That is reason to celebrate, but remember that in pre-Covid days our post Easter attendance would be around 700 people. Generally speaking, even with socially distanced seating in the church, we do not yet need to use the Social Hall for overflow seating. We still have room for more! -Fr. Dave
-
Schedule
MASS & CONFESSION SCHEDULE
(EFFECTIVE November 1, 2020)
WEEKENDS:
Saturday:
Confessions: 4:00 – 4:40 PM (Chapel – NOT in Confessional)
Mass: 5:00 PM (Church)*
Sunday:
Mass: 8:00 AM (Church)*
10:00 AM (Church)*
*overflow seating, if required, will be provided by video in the Social Hall
WEEKDAYS:
Monday: No Mass
Tuesday: Adoration begins at 9:00 AM
Mass – 12:00 Noon
Benediction – 4:45 PM
Confessions – 5:00 – 6:00 PM (Chapel – NOT in Confessional)
Wednesday: Mass – 9:00 AM (Church)
Thursday: Mass – 9:00 AM (Church)
Friday: Mass – 9:00 AM (Church)
1st Saturday: Mass – 9:00 AM (Church)
(5:00 Saturday & all Weekday Masses recorded for internet viewing)
You can find the "What to expect..." document HERE
You can find the "Safely Returning to Mass" document HERE
You can find the "Safely Retruning to Communion" document HERE -
Covid-19 Resources
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul Coronavrus Updates
St. Bridget of Sweden Facebook Page
Center for Disease Control Announcements
Minnesota Department of Health
Chisago County Alerts and Information
City of Lindstrom Facebook Page
Chisago Lakes School District
St. Bridget's Preparedeness Plan
