From the Registers
Funerals at John’s
3rd February: Joan Carr
13th February: Jenny Anderson
Funerals at Crematorium
25th February: Thomas Wood
Brandon Parish Magazine
March 2015
St. John’s Church, Brandon
St. Catherine’s Church, New Brancepeth
Events
Lent Groups - Please join even if you have missed one or two weeks.
- Tuesdays 2.00 pm, Clergy House, 0191 6803875
- Wednesdays 7.00 pm, 2 West View, NB, 0191 3731554
Prayer for our churches, 9.30 pm Tues. 17 March, at St. John’s
PCC: Next meeting: Wed. 18th March at 6.30 pm. The Meeting will include
presentation of last year’s accounts before they are audited and presented at
the AGM in April. At 7.15 pm invited guests and PCC members will discuss
the final colour for the bricks and cladding for the new hall.
St John’s, Brandon
Coffee Morning – 26th March from 10.30 am in St. John's Church
St. Catherine’s, New Brancepeth
Easter Fair – Sat. 28 March 11.00
Neighbourhood Network – Thursday 5 March at 10.00 after the Eucharist.
Yvonne Probert from Mid Durham AAP will come to talk about initiating a
Neighbourhood Network, supporting elderly people.
Women’s World Day of Prayer: 2.00 pm Friday 6th March at St. John’s.
Material prepared by the Christian women of the Bahamas.
Mothers’ Union
15th of March is Mothering Sunday, (Make a Mother’s Day!). As in the past
we hope to raise money for the MU project and also provide flowers for the
children to give to their mothers.
25th March, Lady Day Meeting, 2.00 pm St. Mary’s Sherburn
Sunday services
St. John’s
- 9.45 am Holy Eucharist
St. Catherine’s - 8:45 am Holy Eucharist
Weekday services – followed by tea/coffee
Wed. 9.00 am St. John’s – Holy Eucharist
Thurs. 9.30 am St. Catherine’s – Holy Eucharist
Evening Service: Mon. 7.00 pm St. John’s – Holy Eucharist
Revd. Carl Peters, The Clergy House, Sawmill Lane, Brandon,
Durham, DH7 8NS. Tel: 0191 6803875
Other Contact Telephone Numbers
St. John’s: David (Churchwarden) – 3789718; Win-3781156:
St. Catherine’s: Joe (Churchwarden) – 3739927; Liz-3731554
website http://www.brandonparish.org.uk/Welcome.htm
email - Webmaster@brandonparish.org.uk
https://www.facebook.com/StJohnTheEvangelistChurchBrandon
https://www.facebook.com/StCatherinesChurchNewBrancepeth
https://www.facebook.com/Stjohnschurchhallmeadowfield
Lent and Holy Week Services
During Lent : Stations of the Cross
Wednesday 10.00am at St Luke's followed by Holy Eucharist
Thursday 7.00pm at St John's
Mothering Sunday, March 15th, at all churches
Palm Sunday Blessing of Palms, March 29th at all churches
Holy Week
Monday 7.00pm Holy Eucharist St John's
Tuesday 7.00pm Holy Eucharist St John's with Stations of the Cross
Wednesday 9.00am Holy Eucharist St John's
10.00am Holy Eucharist St Luke's with Stations of the Cross
2.00pm M.U Holy Week reflection led by Fr Carl (all invited)
Maundy Thursday
9.30am Holy Eucharist St Catherine's
7.00pm Holy Eucharist with Foot washing & Stripping of the Altars followed
by silent prayer St John's
7.00pm Holy Eucharist with Foot washing & Stripping of the Altars followed
by silent prayer St Luke's
Post of Church Treasurer at St. John’s
A new Church Treasurer is needed from 22nd April. It involves banking of the
cash collected, keeping gift aid records, paying invoices, keeping accounting
records, completing parish returns and other ad hoc duties. If not already a
PCC member you have to be co-opted. Please contact Lesley Baxter.
07846542035. I am sure there will be many thanks to Lesley for the fantastic
work she has done over the last 15 years (David G-S, Editor)
St. Catherine’s Church Renovation
We have received provisional approval for a Faculty, subject to no objections
before 27 Feb. So we plan to start work on refurbishing the kitchen on 9 th
March and hope to finish by Palm Sunday. Work on the vestry, heating and
decoration will follow in due course.
St. John’s Church Hall update
At the PCC meeting on 18th March a decision will be made on the colour of
the bricks and cladding so the pre-planning assessment can be handed
in. Then the site investigations will be carried out before the full planning
application is handed into DCC by Brandon parish council.
The event on Sat. 21st Feb raised £1541. A big ‘Thank you’ to the helpers and
everyone who came
Good Friday
10.00am Vigils before the Cross St Luke's
2.00pm Vigils before the Cross St John's
Holy Saturday
8.00pm Easter Liturgy St John's
Easter Day services at normal times
St. John’s Church Lighting
The work is to commence on Monday 9th March 2015 and should take
approximately 2 weeks. There will be minimal disruption and no services or
events will need to be cancelled.
From our Priest
I don’t know if any of you like to walk round historical ruins? I certainly do.
Castles, monasteries, I find them quite fascinating and they give us a sense of
connection with our historical past and heritage.
Religiously our heritage is very rich and we are reminded of this in many
ways, including the countless mediaeval churches scattered across the land.
There’s a short documentary series on the TV at the moment called Saints
and Sinners, which covers our monastic heritage in this country, from early
Celtic monks/nuns, right through to the dissolution of the monasteries under
Henry VIII.
Saints and Sinners? We might think? Well it would be very naïve to think
because we were once a wholly Christian country, that society was a picture
of saintliness. Just as it would be very unfair if we thought of mediaeval
Christian Britain as a sinful society. In reality that particular time of
yesteryear contained elements of both saint and sinner, just as we as
individuals contain the seeds of saintliness and sinfulness within us.
Look at St Paul. He said in his letter to the Romans. ‘I do not understand
what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.’ I think we
can all relate to that in some way, just as we might relate to at times actually
doing the good we want to do and not doing the bad we hate to do.
Paul, revered saint of the church and writer of much of our New Testament,
was wise to keep this in his consciousness, for he knew that the battle
between saintliness and sinfulness, was a daily thing. We’re none of us
home and dry! However, as Christians we have made a commitment to go in
the right direction and Lent is a valuable time to examine ourselves before
God and see where we’re falling short.
Sometimes we might feel we’ve gained spiritual ground in our lives only to
be followed by a setback and in our worst times we might feel like the ruined
monastery with only it’s reminders of past glories. But unlike these
wonderful and fascinating reminders of our past, we can rebuild ourselves on
the vision they were founded upon. With repentance and God’s forgiveness,
we can more and more live the vision of God’s Kingdom. A glimpse of
heaven was so wonderfully caught in our great cathedrals built so long ago
and pilgrims felt a sense of awe and wonderment of God’s majesty when
they entered such places. We still can today! But the more we work on our
relationship with God, the more we can live and feel some of that awe and
wonderment of him in our daily lives. Wherever we are.
As members of the church, we are the body of Christ and we should not
forget that Jesus is with us as head of the body to which we belong. That
body, just like a physical body, might have its setbacks, but its life goes on.
As Christians, we are resurrection people and in this Lenten-tide, whilst
aware of the places within us we don’t want to be, we live with the real hope
of where we can be, when we come to celebrate the glory of Christ’s risen
life and his victory over death.
Let us really celebrate that this Easter!
Fr Carl Peters
How about Fair Trade shopping this Lent?
Bananas
One in three bananas bought in the UK is
Fairtrade and it makes a huge difference to
thousands of farmers, workers and their
families.
Chocolate
Buying Fairtrade chocolate makes a huge
difference to the lives of cocoa farmers and
their families around the world.
Gold
Fairtrade Certified Gold is the world's first
independent ethical certification system for
gold
Coffee
Choosing Fairtrade coffee means helping
coffee farmers around the world to get a fair
deal.
Cotton
Lots of us care about how we look – and
buying clothes made with Fairtrade cotton
means we can be a follower of fashion and
at the same time help low paid cotton
farmers around the world.
Flowers
Whatever the occasion, you can say it with
Fairtrade flowers – and it helps thousands of
farmers and workers get a better deal.
Sugar
British
consumers and
companies
choosing Fairtrade sugar sent more than
£5million in Fairtrade premium back to
sugar cane smallholders last year.
Leading your Church into Growth
This day at All Saints, Lobley Hill, Gateshead was led was by Bishops Paul and
Mark. Fr Carl attended this with lay representation from St Luke’s and St
Catherine’s. Some General Points:
 If we want to grow our churches we have to acknowledge our
weaknesses first and to have sense of expectancy
 Welcome and hospitality in our churches are key.
 Growth means not stopping the same. This may be uncomfortable for us
because church can become like a comfortable armchair.
 Growing our church is challenging. Our church is unlikely to grow at
9.00am on a Sunday morning (may mean having services in addition to
our normal worship pattern).
 Worship has to reflect openness and welcome. Most growth in church
takes place in non-Eucharistic worship.
 New forms of worship etc. are most likely to be in addition to what we’re
already doing. That means more work, which isn’t easy.
 Growth doesn’t have to be big. Growth can be small with new things.
 Growth in numbers is important but also: Growth in spirituality; Growth
in effectiveness in the community.
Possible Practical Steps: Can we consider any of these?
1. Pray for growth, maybe a prayer group (We have a meeting once a
month ‘Prayer for our churches’ but this could be changed.)
2. Make the best of the occasional offices, baptisms, weddings, funerals;
can people take something home with them? E.g. at baptisms we could
give out cards for contact?
3. Make the best of seasonal opportunities; Christmas, Easter, Harvest etc.
Good advertising and maybe new ideas.
4. Do we look open as a church? Can we be open more to outsiders? E.g.
Can we consider new forms of services that are accessible to outsiders
Questions
 Are we a maintenance church or a mission church?
 Can people see Jesus in us? The way we act the things we do.
Overall, it was an interesting, challenging, perhaps uncomfortable day and
certainly, with some food for thought. I think it’s important to remember we
can’t do ‘everything’ but we can do our best to grow our churches.