Welcoming Our Young People Back Into Church
Added: 7 June 2021
At their meeting, via Zoom, on 24 May 2021, the Kirk Session approved a number of changes for consideration including the opening of some areas of the Gallery and the Small Hall. For the present, the use of the Small Hall will be exclusively for the Youth Church. The Covid-19 Task Group met on 2 June 2021 and began to draft protocols to allow these changes to be implemented safely and within Church of Scotland and Scottish Government guidelines.
It was agreed that the front row of seat in the gallery and the Small Hall would both be opened for use from Sunday 6 June. Guidelines require that children should sit with their household group and arrangements were put in place to allocate seating in the gallery for this. Karen Gillon already allocates booked seating and undertook to incorporate the gallery seating in her plans. The current plan is for household groups with children to be directed upstairs, where this is possible. When the children leave the sanctuary for their own activities in the Small Hall, they will do so through the main door and walk down the outside of the church, entering again at the side door to reach the Small Hall.
At the end of the service, parents, who have been seated upstairs, will be asked to leave the building as usual then go directly to the side door to collect their child(ren). Parents will be required to maintain social distancing when queuing and children will only be released when they ring the bell to announce their arrival. It is understood that these procedures will evolve with experience.