We have two sanctuaries and two priests. Can we utilize our resources and serve twice as many parishioners?
A. Thank you for your question and thinking “outside the box’. We assume you are not referring to the chapel in our new church building but rather the old sanctuary we left last October as the other available sanctuary. We are sure that you are aware that using the Chapel would not add to the number of people allowed in the building to any measurable degree. The logistics of opening the old sanctuary present quite a challenge. The space currently is being used for storage, the crucifix is no longer there, the vestments and sacred vessels are in the other church and the list goes on. More importantly, having two separate and distinct buildings on the same campus where the Sunday Liturgy is offered runs contrary to the norms of the Diocese. Even if it were allowed by the Diocese, our parish leadership has decided that trying to make all of that happen in the current ever-changing environment would be counter-productive.
How about the school gym. Didn’t we always have Mass in the Gym for holidaze like Christmas and Easter? Why not utilize that space to accommodate more parishioners?
Thanks for the input. In other parishes that have opened already over-crowding has not been a big issue. We are taking a “wait and see” approach at this time. There are no plans to conduct two concurrent separated masses on our campus. The parish recently sent out a survey via email to gather input about the re-opening. We hope you have responded. Feel free to use the comments section to voice any concerns or questions about the Covid-19 response of St. James.