27 May 2020
Revised on 12 June 2020

Dear friends and parishioners,
    Greetings! It feels so good to be writing a letter to the community again. Yes, it is time to come back! In the last ten weeks, our Mass, services, holy hours, coffee hours, Stations of the Cross, and Signs and Symbols all moved online. The building has not been open but the life of the Church and parish has continued. Thank you for keeping up with us on Facebook and our website. 
    Yes, it is time to reconnect with our parish buildings and sacraments. Much planning has gone into this and here I will outline how this will look. We are not just flipping a switch and going back to 19 March (the last day we had public Mass). Rather, this will be a gradual reopening with some new policies to guide us through this historic moment. In light of that, this is what we are doing:

• We have now resumed our weekend Mass schedule in all three churches. We are allowed 25% capacity per Mass. Not everyone will be able to attend Mass every weekend.
•  Plan ahead. There is limited seating, so come early.
• The church is cleaned between Masses.
• You will be socially distanced in the church, six feet or more apart. Family units may sit together, but each person in the family counts toward the final number of allowed participants. Sections of the church will be roped off. 

    What are you being asked to do for your part in this reopening?

• The bishop has extended his dispensation from Sunday Mass throughout this pandemic. If you are sick, and most especially if you have symptoms of Covid-19, stay home. If your health is such that you are considered vulnerable, stay home. Please don’t risk it for yourselves or anyone else.
• Please bring disinfectant wipes with you to Mass and wipe down the area in which you sat during Mass.
• Masks are to be worn throughout Mass by anyone older than 2.
• Communion will only be distributed on the hand.
• All worship aids will be removed from the church. If you have some kind of personal worship aid, feel free to bring it with you and take it home.
• There will be no sign of peace and the collection baskets will be placed at the doors in which you can place your donation as you leave.
• There will be no coffee hours or any other kind of gathering in the near future.
• The parish office is now open with our normal hours of 9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday. Ring the doorbell; you are required to wear a mask to come into the rectory. Over the next few weeks, our office staff will be rescheduling Mass intentions that were missed since the beginning of this shutdown (20 March to 31 May).

    I am sure more will come up as we begin this process. Please be aware that any of these protocols can change at any moment, without notice, depending on circumstances, government and diocesan guidance, and our cooperation. 

    What is most needed from you, my dear friends and parishioners, is a spirit of patience and charity. Some might not agree with these directives, but right now they are the best we have. They are being followed by all parishes at the directive of the bishop. We all need to be patient, with ourselves, the Church and one another. And we need a spirit of charity. All of these directives come from a place of not wanting anyone, including your neighbor, your priest, or you to be infected or sick. They are not perfect, for sure. Let us all continue to pray for an end to this pandemic so that we can move forward with our lives in joy. Looking forward to seeing you next week! 

Peace,
Msgr Bernard Bourgeois
Pastor

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19 June 2020

Dear families of the Rutland-Wallingford religious education program,
    Like all programs, it is time for us to make plans for the 2020–2021 school year. As you are aware, schools are in the process of planning to reopen for the first day of school in August with many precautions and new protocols. As we discerned how we would perform those same precautions and protocols, we quickly came to the conclusion that it would be very difficult for us to reopen the Rutland-Wallingford religious education program as we have traditionally done. Thus, we have made changes to the program for next year as outlined below.

1. Grades 1, 3, and 4 to 6 will move to an online, at-home platform for the 2020-2021 school year. There may be some gatherings of these classes at the church, but those are yet to be determined.
2. Grade 2 (first reconciliation and communion) and grades 7 and 8 (confirmation) will move to a mix of online, at-home learning coupled with a monthly gathering at Christ the King church on a Sunday morning following the 10.30am Mass.

    We ask you to register your child as you normally would. We will be putting together an online, at-home program for your children in religious education. More on that will follow. For now, we just want to get the word out to you on how we plan to proceed in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. 
    As a parish, we take our role in forming our children very seriously. When you had your child baptized, you took on the responsibility of training your child in the practice of the faith. We will do all we can to help and guide you through next year. Please note that the most important aspect of religious education is your participation in Sunday Mass. We ask that you make Sunday Mass the cornerstone of your at-home religious education program.
    We will be in touch later with more information. We pray that you have a great summer, and that by the time autumn arrives, our society will be ready to put Covid-19 fully behind us.

Sincerely,
Msgr Bernard Bourgeois
Pastor