All applications to  Catholic Secondary Schools require a document from the parish priest indicating how often the parents and child attend Sunday Mass. Parents will need to approach Fr John after Sunday Mass and sign each week if they wish the child to receive a favourable report. Bonus Pastor our local school will have three applicants for each place and the decision will be made on the frequency of attending Sunday Mass. No last-minute excuses will be accepted as I'm giving ample warning of the process.

We return the distribution of Holy Communion to its proper place in the Mass and invite you to form two queues as you come to receive from the priest. Please consider keeping a distance from the person in front of you as we show our awareness of one another.

A Gradual Approach.

1. The church layout will return to normal and is open to all. No more stewarding.
2. As your personal responsibility towards others, please consider wearing a mask in church and allowing sufficient space between persons on the same bench.
3. Only one Mass per day (including Saturday and Sunday) at 10 am until our numbers begin to grow.
4. The Sunday Obligation remains suspended until Advent 2021 and so you may continue to treat any day as your Sunday worship.
5. The Church Door will open at 9.45 am and Mass will continue in the shortened version for the summer.
6. The priest will continue to sanitise and wear a mask during Holy Communion distribution.
7. As we rebuild our confidence, I suggest we continue with the distribution of Holy Communion at the end of Mass, thus, ensuring we have no melee of people leaving the church in one large scrum.
8. We will continue the one distribution point for Holy Communion and invite the congregation to continue with our current practice of coming forward, row by row.
9. As is our custom during the summer holidays we will not have any music/singing during Mass.
10. Statues are still off-limits, but you can still purchase your devotional candles from the front barrier in the main aisle of the church.
11. The restrictions on numbers attending baptisms, weddings and funerals are now lifted.

Mask Wearing.

Masks are no longer compulsory, but I would ask you to consider wearing a mask in church to offer reassurance to those who are still anxious.

Social Distancing.

If you are the first to enter a bench I would ask you to consider occupying the middle of the bench allowing for others to arrive in the bench to left and right of you. Before sitting it would be polite to engage with the other users and ask if they are happy with the distance you are maintaining from them.

Baptisms.

You will need to contact Fr John and establish you are a regular worshipper at Good Shepherd and apply for the online course.

First Holy Communion 2021.

Children who have completed the course will celebrate First Holy Communion during August.

We pray for all those working with the NHS and we especially pray for those members of our community who work in hospitals, care homes and serving the public. Also for our elderly parishioners and those with medical conditions. We place you all before God in our daily prayers.

This is the Justgiving site where you can contirbute to our parish finances.

You can use the code reader scan or the link below to make a contribution.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Good-Shepherd-Church-Downham

Those who gift aid are reminded to ensure you provide the details requested.

Thank you for your support.

Other options to financially support the parish are offered below.

We are your parish primary school,

graded “Good” by OFSTED in February 2020 and would love to hear from you.

We currently have spaces in our Reception Class for September 2021.

If you have a child whose date of birth is between 1st September 2016 and 31st August 2017

and you are interested in a place for them, please contact the school office on 020 8698 4173.

We also have vacancies in our Nursery for September 2021.

If you would like a place for your child and they will be 3 years old by September 2021, or soon after, please call us.