Dear Parishioners of Ss Peter & Frances and St Illtyd’s,
We now have sixty email log-ins to our Zoomcast of Sunday Mass. Please do pass on the link to as many people as you know who do not receive it yet and would like to join us. All you need to do to obtain the Zoom link and password for Mass each Sunday at 11:00, is email a request using the new parish email address, priestprestatyn@rcdwxm.org.uk giving your name, address and telephone number. We shall then put you on the list and email the new link to you each week.
Thank you to those of you who are arranging to make your parish offering by standing order or cheque. Some of you have kindly reminded me to stress that the parish bank account name is “Prestatyn Catholic Church,” and, as you may have discovered, the bank will only accept cheques made out to that payee. Any variation, however slight, will almost certainly result in the cheque being rejected by the bank. Apologies to our Rhuddlan members of the parish family for this but any change in the payee name to include Rhuddlan would require closure of the present parish account and the setting up of a completely new one. Owing to the strict security measures governing us as a charity, this is a very complicated process which, from our experience, can take some considerable time.
If you wish to set up a standing order, please see the latest notice below from our Gift Aid co-ordinator, Pauline Mylchreest. Thank you to all who have now set up standing orders; this is very helpful indeed.
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IMPORTANT NOTICE – PARISH WEEKLY OFFERINGS AND GIFT AID
Offerings - Gift Aid and non-Gift Aid Thank you to all those of you who have sent helpful information regarding your offerings to the Parish via bank transfers. I have acknowledged all your messages so if you haven't received a reply within a day or two of sending the information please check that it has been delivered. If you wish you can set up a standing order or make a payment with your bank either by phone or online using the following parish details Prestatyn Catholic Church NatWest Bank, 33 Lord Street, Wrexham. LL11 1LP Bank Sort Code. 55-81-42 Account Number. 08305374 Once you have set up your standing order please inform us of the date of the payments and the frequency, e.g. weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually or just the date if it is a one off payment. You can email this information to me at p.mylchreest1@btinternet.com and I will then be able to keep a record for the parish accounts. Prior to the lock down the numbered envelopes for those who Gift Aid their offerings were prepared for distribution. As many have now elected to pay by standing order these numbers will have to be re-allocated for ease of recording and audit of accounts so it would be helpful to know now if you have chosen to pay through your bank. As always please check that you pay enough tax to cover the amount that we claim back from your Gift Aid offerings as well as claims by any other charities that you support. If you donate items to charity shops and have signed individual Gift Aid forms for them you should receive notification of how much they have claimed on your behalf-it all adds up! If your circumstances have changed and you can no longer Gift Aid your offerings kindly inform me of that date so we do not make any further claims on your behalf. Could you also let me know of any change of name or address? Thank you once again for your help. I hope you are all well and that it won't be too long before we are back in our churches. Kind regards Pauline Mylchreest. (Parish Gift Aid Co-ordinator)
SS PETER & FRANCES CHURCH RE-OPENS FOR PRIVATE PRAYER
We are pleased to say that Ss Peter & Frances church is now open for private prayer. The church will be open from 15:00 to 17:00 each Sunday until further notice. During this time, the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed. If you are visiting the church, you will be greeted by two stewards who will provide you with all the information and directions which you need to ensure your safety and that of other visitors. Please follow their instructions carefully. The church will be cleaned and sanitized at the end of each visiting period. Please wear a mask throughout the time that you are in the church. In addition, we shall distribute Holy Communion in Prestatyn after the Zoom streaming of Mass, today Sunday 09 August, from 12:00 to 12:30.
ST ILLTYD’S, RHUDDLANWILLRE-OPEN FOR PRIVATE PRAYER ON 16 AUGUST Further details of the times of opening will be given in next week’s newsletter. Meanwhile, we shall be able to distribute Holy Communion in Rhuddlan, after the Zoom streaming of Mass, today Sunday 09 August, from 12:00 to 12:30.
SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION
We are pleased to announce that the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) has now resumed in Ss Peter & Frances, Prestatyn at the usual time of 10:30-11:00 on Saturday. The Parents with Children room will replace the confessional boxes but the sacrament may be celebrated either face to face (with social distancing) or in the traditional private manner as you prefer.
WHEN WILL OUR CHURCHES RE-OPEN FOR MASS AT THE WEEKEND?
You may be aware that the Welsh government has confirmed that pubs and restaurants may now reopen for business and that, whilst the statutory social distancing measure in Wales remains 2m, where it is difficult to apply this measure, it may be reduced to 1m with additional safety precautions, such as the wearing of masks and the use of screens. Father Terry has spoken to Bishop Peter about the possibility of opening our churches for regular weekend Mass subject to the same conditions as restaurants and pubs. With extra safety precautions, this would enable us to accommodate our usual congregations under a near normal circumstances, whereas 2m social distancing makes this very difficult. Bishop Peter’s advice is that must wait for the CYTUN representatives who are liaising with the Welsh government on behalf of all churches in Wales, to interpret the Welsh government’s latest regulations specifically with regard to places of worship. We await an announcement. In the meantime, we shall continue to stream Mass online and distribute Holy Communion between 12:00 and 12:30 in both Prestatyn and Rhuddlan this Sunday, 09 August and each Sunday at the same time until further notice. In the event that we are obliged to continue applying 2m social distancing indefinitely, it is our intention to open both of our churches together for the public celebration of weekend Mass just as soon as the task of compiling rotas for attendance can be completed. We understand that it is tempting to look at what other churches are doing and ask why we cannot follow suit immediately. However, it must be borne in mind the configuration of every church is different and the sizes of congregations from one church to another between denominations can vary considerably. We must cater for our particular circumstances and see that whatever measures we take ensure, as far as possible, the safety of all of you who will be using our churches. It is also desirable that both our churches, in Prestatyn and in Rhuddlan, should move forward in unison. Markedly different provisions for each church would be difficult to manage and could lead to serious confusion and misunderstanding. We are sure you will appreciate that this is a situation we wish to avoid. Meanwhile, we thank you for your continued patience and understanding in these difficult times.
PARISH LEVIES- where does your collection go?
This week, Fr Terry paid over our parish’s yearly levies to the Diocese of Wrexham for the services which the Diocese provides for the church in North Wales. The amounts were as follows:
Diocesan Commissions & Services - £2,724 TOTAL - £15,095
This amounts to 34% of our weekly offertory collection for the financial year ending 05 April 2020.
**************** MESSAGE FROM CAFOD Dear Parishioners of Ss Peter & Frances and St Illtyd, I’m writing to ask your thoughts on some CAFOD fundraising as a parish as part of CAFOD’s Summer of Hope for our Coronavirus appeal. Some parishes across the country have been doing a variety of activities such as virtual pilgrimages, sponsored walks etc. I wondered what your thoughts might be on organising something for your parish to participate in over the next few weeks? I have just set up an online coffee morning for my parish for next Saturday. We have a Justgiving page for people to make a donation for what they would usually have spent on tea/coffee and cake and we’ll just meet virtually as we can’t in person. I don’t know how successful it will be but it’s worth a try. Its last minute too, we decided today, so everyone is getting a week’s notice before the summer holidays! I know this isn’t an easy request, I would be grateful if you could let me know your thoughts. Many thanks, Colette Byrne
