Today the Scottish Government and the Church of Scotland confirmed that churches will be able to reopen this week from Friday 26th March. Therefore, as both Kirk Sessions have elected to do so and as we have been given Presbytery approval,we can open for Palm Sunday on the 28th at our usual times of 10.0am and 11.15am. Restrictions will still of course be in place – good hygiene practise, social distancing, giving contact details, sitting in household groups, wearing of face coverings and no singing. The limit on the number of people being permitted within churches is up to 50, however only if the space allows for social distancing to be maintained – but sadly neither of our churches allow for that to happen. At Bendochy Church the maximum number of people we will be able to allow in will be between 15 – 25 and that is dependent on the number of people within each household group. At the Abbey Church that number is between 30 – 42 people. For those unable to attend I still hope to put an audio recording of the service online, accessed via our website and available from around 2.00pm on Sunday.