The Holy Metropolis of New Zealand has issued the following announcement regarding the upcoming re-opening of the churches.
The announcement reads:
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Χριστὸς Ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς Ἀνέστη!
Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!
After eight difficult weeks wherein our Holy Church was affected both physically and emotionally by the global pandemic COVID 19, we are happy to inform you that the Churches of the Holy Metropolis of New Zealand will be re-opening for the faithful from this Sunday 17th May.
From Thursday 14th May the country of New Zealand moved into Alert Level 2. As a result of this, our churches will be permitted to open with the following specific conditions:
● Attendance is restricted to only 10 people including the Priest, the Chanter and the Altar server.
● Services are restricted to a maximum of 2 hours.
● We must ensure that we operate within heightened and thorough levels of hygiene.
● We must keep a record of all attendees.Whilst this is a small opening, it is nevertheless an opening.
The churches will remain open after the Divine Liturgy is completed, to allow those faithful who wish to receive The Holy Communion, who cannot attend the Liturgy, to arrive one “bubble” at a time, and be called individually into the church to receive The Holy Communion. Please contact your Local Parish and Priest to discuss this in more detail if you wish to.In Wellington, Sunday’s Divine Liturgy will be held at St. Andrews Miramar commencing at 8:30am and finishing at 10:30am. (plus half an hour in case of Holy Communion)
Christ is risen from the dead, by death trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs, He has granted life.
From the Metropolis.