TRINITY VINEYARD CHURCH Service and Tea 2nd August
On Sunday 2nd August local Church Trinity Vineyard held an open air gathering here at St George's beginning at 3 pm, a Service and Tea with a socially distanced difference!
This was an all pre booked ticket event with seating laid out per household with a welcome bag per person. In the bag were found an Order of Service, sealed Communion bread and grape juice, paper and pen, not forgetting the scone and cream, with hot water available from the urn by the kitchen.
Communion was given, prayers were offered, Trinity notices were announced and a special farewell was given to a long standing Trinity family. There were activities for the children in the allocated space and in part of the Service children re-enacted a passage from the Bible.
Here is a how the Service worked which will be a guide as to how future events can be managed: Trinty Vineyard asked people to arrive at 2:45 for a 3pm start. Labelled space was allocated per household. There was no singing - but as Trinity say singing is not the only way to worship. Trinity provided afternoon tea for all. Masks were worn, people kept at least 1 meter from those not in their household, the entrance and exit were separate, and toilet arrangements were: one in one out.
Our Hon Secretary Andrew Blundy spoke a few words of welcome and said what a pleasure it was to see our church full after 5 months of lock down being used for the purpose for which it was originally built. In our press release Andrew refers to our next events including the special Greenwich and Docklands International Festival "Black Victorians" dance performances (see the separate Event page on this website), and later the deferred St George's Day Service and November Remembrance Day Service.
We look forward to Trinity Vineyard returning to worship here again in the future, we thank their organisers for setting up the newly required arrangements and their members for taking part.
Last word to Paul from Trinity Vineyard: "We were really grateful for the opportunity to use the Garrison Church for our first gathering in about five months. Aside from it being a beautiful space, it meant that we could meet under open skies and in open air, contributing to everyone's sense of safety. We also appreciated the time that the Garrison Church trustees spent with us in advance, thinking through the best way to hold a COVID-secure meeting.
We look forward to other gatherings there in the future."
