St Nicholas of Tolentino RC Church

STOP PRESS

TRACK AND TRACE MEASURES FOR ALL ATTENDING MASS   We have been asked to assist ‘track and trace’ should anyone attend Mass who then tests positive for Covid-19. It is very simple. One member from each family group and each individual not in a family group will be asked to fill in a simple form with their name and contact telephone number: this information with be strictly confidential and used for no other purpose other than in the event of someone testing positive for Covid-19. All forms will be placed each Sunday in an enveloped which will be sealed and dated and after three weeks destroyed – it will only be opened and used (again confidentiality) should one of our community be tested positive, in which case it will be given to those responsible to Track and Trace. This measure is to do all we can to limit the spread of this potentially fatal virus. Thank you for your co-operation.   

THANK YOU – ALL WHO HAVE RETURNED TO SUNDAY MASS IN CHURCH 

Again we saw a gratifying increase in number attending Mass last Sunday (about 90 people) – thank you! The Parish Pastoral Council decided we should re-open the side rooms to the church worship space, so increasing our safe-distancing capacity to about 120. Unfortunately a few arrived after Mass had begun, when the doors of the church had to be locked, and so could come in. PLEASE COME IN GOOD TIME, ESPECIALLY AS THE NEW TRACK AND TRACE PROCEDURES TAKE TIME TO PROCESS – AIM TO ARRIVE BY 9.45am AT THE LATEST.

It is great to see you and we have all missed one another! And yes the Mass is so different, with no singing and no gathering afterwards in the Hall, but we are still being fed from the Table of the Word, the Table of the Eucharist and by each other’s presence!
[1] We observe 1 mtr+ safe distancing WITH THE COMPULSORY WEARING OF FACE COVERINGS (provided at the door where necessary). Family groups sit together with 1 mtr+ gap between adjacent family groups or individuals. We can welcome 100 people.
[2]Everyone (except the presiding priest and the three assisting servers on the sanctuary) MUST WEAR FACE COVERINGS. If you do not have one, it will be supplied to you.
[3] Stewards at the entrance to the church who will guide family groups and individuals to a designated seating space. You may not to be able to sit where you normally do.
[4] Stewards will also guide you to and from Holy Communion, observing the 1 mtr+ spacing while queuing for Communion, to be received only in the hand and under One Kind.
[5] Stewards will also guide you at the end of Mass to exit the church safely. Do not re-enter the church after leaving. When greeting one another outside the church please be aware of others exiting and the need to observe safe distancing on Church premises.
[6] There is no singing at this time, as singing projects droplets twice the distance.
[7] Sadly Children Liturgy is not possible to offer with safe distancing.
[8] There is no Offertory Procession, so please leave you offerings in the baskets at the door, either on the way in or on the way out – thank you. Also leave goods for the Food Bank in the porch and they will be taken to the Food Bank at the earliest opportunity.
[9] Only the priest, 3 altar servers and sacristans are allowed into the Sacristy before and after Mass – again because of the requirement for safe distancing.
[10] Please collect your box of Offertory envelopes from Robert at the door when leaving.
[11] Everyone needs to sanitise their hands on entering and exiting the church.
[12] We will have to remain in our places for the non-contact sign of peace.
[13] There is one toilet only available  – the disabled access toilet in the parish hall, which includes a baby changing unit. A steward will guide you and will also cleanse the toilet after each person has used it. Children must be accompanied to the toilet by a responsible adult.
[14] The Lady Chapel is not in use, because safe distancing/ventilation is not possible.
[15] We need suitable volunteers for stewarding (4 each Sunday), for deep cleaning the Church on Friday mornings and after Sunday Mass. Please contact the Parish Office 01179090419 to volunteer – thank you).

Sunday Mass at 10.00am, with the church open from 9.15am and doors locked at 10.00am as Mass begins. All Masses will be celebrated at the main altar and be live-streamed as soon as possible. The cost of this will £3000. We have received donations of £1600 – thank you for helping us establish this new form of mission and ministry. Your Parish Pastoral Council will keep these measures under constant review. Thank you to all volunteers enabling us to gather for Mass safely  Shalom!    Richard

PARISH MINISTRY CONTINUES  [1]  The Parish Office is open from 10am to 3.00pm Monday to Friday so that our ministry of care and support can continue, especially for the poorest who need our Food Bank and Caritas Fund, or assistance with Universal Credit, housing or mental health issues. The Parish Office is getting busier! PLEASE NOTE THE FOOD BANK IS NOW OPEN FROM 10am to 1.00pm, to ensure we can maintain the service long-term. Please phone the parish office (0117-9090419) during these times or myself at the presbytery (0117-909-8810 – at any reasonable time) with your questions, concerns or need for any kind of support.

[2] Apologies, but a word about Parish Finance! We are experiencing a marked increase of calls on our Caritas Fund and Foodbank as the health crisis increases and many more people find themselves with little or no income. We are committed to meet this need as far as we possibly can – as Pope Francis says ‘we are the Church of the Poor, the Church for the Poor’. But we need your continued help and generosity! We are dependent upon our weekly collections but if no Public Mass there is problem! We ask you to continue your weekly offering: either by making a standing order to the parish account or filling in the Diocesan Standing Order and Gift Aid Form (email for details); or by giving you cash offertory and donations to the Food Bank to the Parish Office during Office hours or through the Presbytery door.

Welcome to St Nick’s, Bristol

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY MOST ESPECIALLY  FOR THE SICK, FOR ALL HEALTH CARE WORKERS IN HOSPITALS, CARE HOMES AND THE COMMUNITY, AS WELL AS ALL ESSENTIAL WORKERS ENABLING OUR SOCIETY TO FUNCTION AT THIS TIME.

PLEASE ALSO PRAY FOR OUR NATION AND ALL NATIONS AROUND THE GLOBE STRUGGLING WITH THIS PANDEMIC. SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER WITH KINDNESS AND CARE, ESPECIALLY OUR ELDERLY AND MOST VULNERABLE. LET US EXPLORE HOW WE CAN EFFECTIVELY SUPPORT OUR LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND NEIGHBOURHOODS – LET THE LIGHT OF CHRIST’S COMPASSION AND LOVE SHINE THROUGH US AND GIVE THE GLORY TO GOD!

Whether this is your first time to our Church family, or you have been coming here for many years – all are very welcome to be part of this wonderfully multi-cultural and diverse community of faith and friendship.
This parish has been witnessing to Christ and serving the people of this part of Bristol since 1848.  

We are a ‘Communion of Communities in Mission’ with more than 60 nationalities who gather each Sunday at 10am to celebrate God’s great Love for the world in our Mass.

Our commitment is to be a people at the service of the poor, both locally and globally; to be a community of warmth and welcome; to be a community of healing and hope. We are committed to work for the unity of the Church with our brothers and sisters of other Christian traditions, sharing mission and worship together; and to seek to build a fellowship of all believers among the many world faiths in our area.

In other words, we have long been seeking to grow as the kind of community that Pope Francis envisages in his Letter ‘Joy in the Gospel’

All are welcome
Sunday Mass – 10:00am

First Sunday of the Month at 3pm – Mass for people with special needs with the Clifton Catholic Fellowship

Second Sunday of the Month at 3pm – Signed Mass with the Deaf Community

Third Sunday of the Month at 3pm – LGBT+ Mass

THE ABOVE ACTS OF PUBLIC WORSHIP ARE CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE BECAUSE OF THE COVID-19 VIRUS BY ORDER OF THE BISHOPS OF ENGLAND AND WALES

Summer Mass Times are subject to change. Please check Mass Times