Rev Matthew B. Wetsel

Holy Trinity Church Church of the Holy Spirit 205 Glebe Street 153 S. Main Street Johnstown, New York 12095 Gloversville, New York 12078

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Dear Office Staffs, Pastoral Council, Evangelization Team, Finance Council, Trustees, and Volunteers,

I am writing to you today with some hopeful news regarding the eventual re-opening of our parish churches in the to-be-determined future. As you are certainly aware, the pastoral need to cancel public Masses throughout the diocese due to the COVID-19 pandemic has been an extremely difficult time in our local church as well as for our brothers and sisters throughout the globe. The inability to gather together for the Sunday Eucharist has left so many of us with a sense of hunger for our Lord that we may not have experienced before. That being said, I am grateful to all of you who have been available to help keep our parishes running remotely through phone calls, letters, emails, texts, video conferences, etc, from home. So many of you have risen to the occasion and have been able to reach out to our families during a very distressing time for all of us. I thank you for the many ways you have been Christ to one another during such a stressful period in our world’s history.

I am attaching several documents authorized by Bishop Scharfenberger to this email. The documents help us to see what steps will need to be taken in order for the diocese to be able to resume public Masses. As you may or may not know, our parish churches will need to be reopened for Masses together in unison. As of today (May 23rd), our diocesan parishes remain closed until all of the pastors, the regional vicars, the bishop, and his advisors are able to work together on implementing plans for safe worship experiences at our parishes. You can imagine that this is complicated because our diocesan parish churches spread throughout

fourteen (14) counties, are a combination of rural, urban, and suburban parishes, and have different local logistics to be aware of and be able to respect. The documents that I have attached acknowledge the various situations and circumstances that must be taken into account for the safety of Mass attendees and our local communities.

In reviewing the information on reintroducing the Mass to our communities as authorized by the bishop, the proposal that I will send to our regional vicar, Fr. Jun Segura (pastor of Northville & Broadalbin), will include the temporary addition of two extra weekend Masses to the normal schedule in order to do the best that we can to offer the Sunday Eucharist in a way that is conducive to our parish families and visitors and still maintain the social distancing, church capacity management, and sanitation guidelines as needed. In a nutshell, we will not be able to accommodate the usual number of people who normally attend our four weekend Masses because of the need to space people between the pews and to keep the head count to about 30% capacity as seen in the reintroduction document that I have attached. Yes, it is true that some churches will likely host drive-in Masse in order to accommodate more people than a reduced capacity church Mass can. In considering that option, however, that would provide a lot of logistical challenges for our campuses to try to execute every week. The unpredictability of the weather, the lack of parking spaces to accommodate a temporary stage and the cars in the lot (particularly for the Holy Trinity campus), and the proximity to neighboring houses being subject to a loud outdoor sound system are among a few of the local difficulties in trying to make that a reality.

Therefore, the proposal that I will send to Fr. Jun for the bishop’s approval is the following:

Holy Spirit Holy Trinity

Saturday, 4 pm (normal) Saturday, 7 pm (temporary)

Sunday, 11:30 am (normal) Sunday, 8 am (normal)

Sunday, 5:00 pm (temporary) Sunday, 10 am (normal)

With this temporary schedule, there will be a need for your assistance to allow this to work. I thank you in advance for your offers to help.

-Music Ministry: I thank you in advance for adhering to the guidelines from the bishop that, unfortunately, do not allow for a typical Mass choir with participants standing and sitting next to each other in confined spaces. It is OK to have a few vocalists spaced out in accordance with social distance regulations. However, we cannot have the normal amount of vocalists that the 10 am Mass normally offers and in some occasions, the 11:30 am Mass. I will leave that discussion between the directors of music and their choir members.

If either of the parish music ministry programs wish to play at either of the two extra Masses, I would welcome your assistance. However, I also realize that you may not be in a position to help with that due to your own schedules.

-Lectors and Ushers: For those who normally create the ministry schedules (Cindy Kollar and Jamin Clemente), could you check in with the lectors and ushers and see who would be available and willing to be added to the rotation of extra Masses at the respective parishes? Thank you!

-Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist: Unfortunately, we will not be able to offer the precious blood during Mass until further notice. Likewise, only the priest and one Eucharistic Minister will be able to distribute communion at each Mass. They will need to be able to have ready access to hand sanitizer during the distribution in order to frequently clean their hands during the communion rite. In a similar note to scheduling the lectors and ushers, could you, Cindy Kollar and Jamin Clemente, see which ministers could serve at the extra Masses? Thank you!

On a related note, I plan on allowing communicants to come forward as they normally would during Sunday Mass with the expectation that they would kindly remain six feet apart from one another in line. I think that makes more sense than the alternate scenario authorized by the bishop where the faithful would receive communion at the end of Mass and leave before the final dismissal.

-Altar Servers: For the time being, I will be halting this ministry for our weekend Masses. While I am so grateful for the presence of our parishioners who serve, I also don’t want to jeopardize any of them by having them close to me at Mass while holding the Roman Missal, preparing the gifts, etc.

On a related note to the preparation of the gifts, you will notice that the guidelines do not allow for the presentation of the gifts during the offertory as we normally do. Instead, they will be on the credence table as they normally are for Daily Mass.

-Church Cleaning and Social Distancing Coordinator

Each Mass will require a cleaning and social distancing coordinator to work with other volunteers to ensure the proper cleaning of the church after each liturgy. They will also need to work with the ushers before and during Mass to help maintain social distancing throughout the standing and seating areas of the church, and to help ensure that the entrances and exits are not excessively filled with parishioners coming and going all at the same time. There will be a need for staggered entrances and exits by the faithful. If we have reached the maximum capacity for any given Mass, they will need to assist me in alerting the parishioner know about the option of either attending another Mass or, if that is not possible, to please stand or sit outside the church, spaced apart from any others (weather permitting).

If you would like to be considered as a coordinator for one or more of the Masses, please let me know.

Thank you in advance for your help so we can do our part to move forward along with our diocese. Please note that I will not be able to submit this proposal to the regional vicar until I have a commitment for cleaning and social distancing coordinators for all six Masses. That will be paramount in order for this proposal to work.

I also thank you for your continued flexibility and patience with this development as the conditions may ebb and flow on account of a variety of factors (if there is a second wave of infections, additional requirements from the Center for Disease Control, etc).

May God bless you and your loved ones abundantly!

Sincerely,

Fr. Matt

ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF ALBANY

Specific Instructions for the Celebration of Funerals, Weddings and Baptisms

(as of 5/21/20)

The instructions given below are simply a supplement to the Guidelines for the Gradual Reintroduction of Public Liturgies and Worship, Initial Stage, that are being published today by the Diocese. The instructions below come into effect IMMEDIATELY, but they are ONLY for the celebration of funerals, weddings and baptisms. As indicated in the memo of 5/20/20 from the Chancery, a date for the reintroduction of other liturgies, most especially other Masses celebrated in public, will be given shortly.

FUNERALS

1. A public Funeral Mass may be celebrated, provided that all governmental/health directives and guidelines are followed (currently no more than 10 persons present).

2. There are some elements particular to the Funeral Mass a. The usual entrance rites and other rites (Final Commendation, sprinkling with holy

water, incensing etc.) should be observed, but the optional placing of the pall should be omitted

b. Pall bearers may accompany the casket into the church and as the casket is taken from the church.

WEDDINGS

1. The public celebration of weddings is permitted, provided that the current governmental/health guidelines and directives are observed. In particular, this relates to the numbers present (currently no more than 10 persons present) and social distancing.

2. For further, general liturgical details and protocols, please refer to the section of this document on the Eucharist.

3. The wedding liturgy has particular elements that will require attention, namely: a. The bride and groom would not be required to wear a face mask (they are the ministers

of the sacrament) b. The procession takes place in the usual way c. The usual parts of the Rite itself should be observed d. Avoid any unnecessary touching of objects such as the wedding rings e. Programs/worship aids are not advised

BAPTISMS

The following relates mainly to the baptism of infants or children; that is, those under the age of discretion (cf. Order of Baptism of Children, Introduction, 1). Additionally, some elements apply to adults where there is a grave necessity, such as the danger of death.

Given health and governmental directives (especially social distancing, hygiene/sanitizing, etc.) and the need to protect the most vulnerable medically, the baptism of infants in our current situation presents some particular factors and difficulties:

• On the one hand, the Church requires that the sacrament should be celebrated within the first few weeks of an infant being born (cf. CIC, can. 867). Any liturgical directives cannot contradict universal Church or liturgical law(s).

• However, in practice, we know that there is often a much longer period than this before a baptism takes place.

• Particular factors impacting a pastoral decision that wishes to respect Canon Law as well as governmental directives relate to the liturgical dynamics of baptism. Such factors are, of course, issues such as maintaining social distance and sanitizing.

Therefore:

As is happening already, pastors and parish leaders should discuss the situation with the family and assure them that, if the need should arise, anyone may baptize in the case of necessity (see #3 below).

1. During this exceptional time, if there is a pastoral need for the baptism of an infant to take place, only the necessary rites for a valid Baptism should be celebrated, (CIC, can. 850). Details can be found in the Order of Baptism of Children. Only the minister, infant, parents and godparents should be present (again, social distance, hygiene etc. should be followed as far as possible within the liturgy).

2. At this stage of reopening, baptisms during Mass should NOT take place. 3. In the case of an emergency, anyone may baptize as long as the pouring of water and the valid

Trinitarian formula: "N. I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" is used (CIC, can. 861, section 2, and Order for the Baptism of Children).

4. In whatever way and wherever the sacrament is celebrated, please remember that a proper record should be kept and it must be recorded in the appropriate place (the parish within which the baptism took place: CIC, can. 877)

5. If a baptism is celebrated without the pastor being present, he should be notified so that the necessary record can be made in the parish register (CIC, can. 878).