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Back in Church, but at Sears too!
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On Monday, August 17, the New Castle News pictured the Distinguished Young Woman 2021 winner, Zoey Elaine Ondako of Holy Spirit Parish, on its front page. Of 18 finalists, Zoey was one of six who were from Holy Spirit! They were Adriana Marie Antuono (David & Lena Antuono), Alexandra Marie Columbus (Nichole & Doug Columbus), Alyssa Irene Cumpston (Lorine Bish & Timothy Cumpston), Morgan Kate Jones (Stephanie Jones-Covelli & John Covelli), Alexa Rose Vitale (Jeff & Heather Vitale) and winner, Zoey Elaine Ondako (Larry & Bess Ondako). Distinguished Young Women combines the chance to win college scholarships with a program that offers Life Skills training to prepare young women for the world after high school. Congratulations to Zoey Ondako and the other young women from Holy Spirit.
The burning question now is: “When will we be back in the church for Mass on the weekend?” As you know, we are only permitted to have 25% occupancy in our buildings. After much study and consultation with our pastoral leadership team as well as our Pastoral Council and Finance Council, we are going to begin the transition September 12th. This has taken much planning including the appeal for younger volunteers to be ushers/greeters, lectors and Eucharistic Ministers and to train them on the expectations and the “how to’s” in a Covid world. So, on September 12, we plan to have two Saturday evening Masses at 4:00 pm, one at St. Vitus and the other at St. Camillus. They were chosen because, with access to their gymnasiums, these sites hold the most number of people. Those entering the church will need to sign-in and wear masks as is dictated by the Bishop’s mandate. The parish collection will be taken as you enter the building. Pews will be closed off for social distancing - family members who live together can sit together, otherwise people need to sit at least six feet apart. The bulletin will only be given out as people exit the church. At St. Camillus, we will have any overflow into the gym. Chairs will be arranged 6 feet apart. The gym at St. Vitus will also be used for overflow and it will have live-streaming of the Mass going on in St. Vitus Church.
Sunday Masses will remain 9 :00 am and 11 :00 am in the Sears parking lot. This “staged process” of moving into the churches is to make the transition as smooth as possible and to work out any of the problems which may arise. Additionally, maintaining the Masses in the parking lot enables us to accommodate people who are not comfortable entering into a building at this time. These Masses continue to require a number of volunteers.
We remain grateful to McClure Realty, and also, to the various stores at the Union Plaza for allowing us to celebrate Mass there.
Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers who are making it possible to celebrate Mass in the church buildings and in the parking lot through their selfless service!
We will keep you posted as we move forward with further developments based on what we learn from this experience on September 12th.
God love you,
