Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ.
As noted last week and based on the recommendation of the Archdiocese we have begun the process of reopening St. Elizabeth of Hungary first.
A lot of preparation work has been done already and yet a lot of work remains in progress. Also, we are still waiting for some critical supplies that are needed before opening which are on back order.
Based on my calculations
I hope we will be ready to reopen St. Elizabeth the weekend of June 13-14 (NOT June 6-7, as hoped for in the May 27 email). These dates may change if we have not completed what needs to be done, do not have the right number of volunteers to help at each Mass and/or the back ordered supplies have not yet arrived. Once these three conditions have been met, I will ask our Regional Bishop, Bishop Robert Reed, for his permission to open. For a list of the requirements that must be satisfied prior to reopening please see the links below.
As noted above,
we need a number of volunteers per Mass to help out. This could be to help check parishioners in at the door; help usher parishioners to an available pew and seat them; help at communion time to lead parishioners out of their pews and back in and a host of other functions we never had to do in the past. If you would like to volunteer please send an email to
Mary Ryan at
mgr@applevalleycatholic.org. Mary will be working on scheduling the volunteers for each Mass going forward. It would be great to have volunteers from both of our churches in the Apple Valley Catholic Community.
For the first two weekends that we are opened the Mass schedule will be:
Saturday 4:00 p.m. Mass – St. Elizabeth Sunday 10:45 a.m. Mass – St. Elizabeth
Once I feel the process is done right I will expand the Mass schedule. Then from there I will begin the process of reopening St. Isidore.
I am taking this process of reopening our churches slowly and carefully to guarantee the safety of all who attend. Safety is first and foremost on my mind as I, along with all of you, acknowledge that the virus is still out there. I assure you we will get back to a full Mass schedule, but it will take time.
Be assured of my prayers for you and your families.