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Sunday
Services |
9.00am |
Morning
Prayer |
10.00am |
The
Parish Mass with creche |
10.00am |
Sunday
shipmates |
11.00am |
Coffee
in the Parish Centre |
11.30am |
Holy
baptism |
Weekday
Masses |
Monday |
7.00pm |
Tuesday |
9.30am |
Wednesday |
10.00am |
Thursday |
9.30am |
Saturday |
9.30am |
| |
|
Confessions
- after Mass on Saturday or by appointment |
Banns,
Baptism and Wedding
Arrangements can be
made in church on
any Monday evening at 6.15pm.
No appointments are necessary
Fr
McTeer is available to bring the
Blessed Sacrament to the sick
and
dying at any
time of the day and night |
S.
Helen's Luncheon Club
We have launched a
major new service to the community in the Parish Centre. On the
second Tuesday of the month we are serving a meal to the elderly
who will be picked up by bus, have
coffee on arrival, take part in a Mass celebrated in the Centre
and enjoy a good lunch and some entertainment before returning home.
We have started with 12 members but hope that this will grow if
we can secure funding for a paid cook. It may also help us to hold
the club weekly |
Christingle
Service
16th December 2007
Last night,
Sunday 16th December, 2007 a packed church thoroughly enjoyed the
annual Christingle Service for the children of the parish. Beginning
with prayers and a carol the Thanksgiving was led by one of the
young members of St. Helen's church. Children
from the cubs, scouts and guides then read, with feeling, passion
and understanding, the story of the Nativity. What followed may
loosely be described as a search and rescue mission as all the children
were tasked with finding the figures of the crib which had been
hidden around the interior of the church. Great excitement and exuberance
and rightly so. It was, perhaps, just as well that all of this excitement
was followed
by a carol and prayers led by some of the children. Finally,
before the Blessing, all the children lined up in the aisles, each
was given a Christingle, the lights of the church were put out and
the candles of the Christingle were lit creating a peaceful, wonderful
scene.
 
|
20th
December 2007
Packed once
again, and mainly lit by candles, the church was a wonderful setting
for this year's celebration of Christmas as the congregation enjoyed
the singing of many traditional carols accompanied, not only by
the stirring music of the Ferryhill Brass Band, but also by Mr Phillip
Hall, the church organist.
Traditional
Christmas poems were also read including the poem, " Twas the
Night before Christmas" written by Clement Clark Moore or was
it, perhaps, Henry Livingstone as both have support for having written
it. Its effect was, however, to redefine our image of Christmas
and Santa Claus because prior to its publication St. Nicholas, the
patron saint of children, had never been associated with a sleigh
and reindeer.
With a reading
of the birth of Jesus from S. Luke, the saying of the Lord's prayer
and the singing of, " The Twelve Days of Christmas" conducted,
if that is the right word, by Fr. McTeer, the service ended with
feelings of joy, gladness and happiness by all present. |
Dedication
of the Snowdon Memorial Window
23rd December 2007

Today, during
Mass, the new church window, the Snowdon Memorial Window was dedicated
by Fr McTeer. Designed by Mr. Sep Waugh FMGP and showing Joseph,
Mary and the infant, Jesus it was donated by Miss Sally Snowdon
in memory of her sister, Betty, who died in 2005 having been a regular
communicant at St. Helen's for many years. |
| Christmas
Eve Midnight Mass
With the church
wonderfully lit by candlelight a congregation of young and old,
regulars and newcomers, celebrated a traditional Christmas Mass
and its emphasis on the true meaning of Christmas. With readings
from the prophet Isaiah, the letter of St. Paul to Titus and from
the gospel according to St Luke, with prayers and carols as well
as the the short canticle, in Latin, the Missa De Angelis (......
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini - Blessed is he who cometh
in the name of the Lord) sung by the choir, there was a tangible
feeling of peace and tranquility. |
Organ Appeal Curry Evening
2nd February, 2008
A wonderful
evening was experienced by about 30 members of the church and
their friends in the Parish Centre on Saturday 2nd January, 2008,
all enjoying some most delightful curries cooked by Marjorie Brodie
who had spent most of the week preparing the dishes.
With
the proceeds from the meal, drinks and a raffle almost £500
was raised for the Organ Appeal, a most worthy and appreciative
effort.

Marjorie
Brodie with Fr. McTeer and Philip Hall, the organist.
|
Beetle Drive
16th April, 2008
Some 30
parishioners, both young and old, enjoyed an evening playing the
traditional game of Beetle Drive in the Parish Centre as well
as enjoying a meal of bangers and mash. Although essentially an
evening of fun and games some £30 was raised towards the
church funds.
|
Art Exhibition and Sale
3rd to the 5th May, 2008
For
the second successive year, thanks to the work of Freda and Derek
Billson and a small team of helpers, the church held an attractive,
successful exhibition raising some £621, the proceeds going
towards the Organ Restoration Fund

Freda and Derek Billson who spent hours organising the exhibition
and liaising with 40 artist who exhibited 200 paintings.

Pat Hartley and Alyson
Smith admiring some of the exhibits

Evelyn Oxbrough
deciding to buy?
Nellie
Bowser, on the left, helping with the raffle and talking
to Ethel Shoulder

There's always
time for refreshments
Joan Johnson
enjoying a cup of tea
Likewise
Maureen Race and her mother

|
May |
| Saturday 24th |
Chinese banquet
in the Parish Centre 7.30pm |
| Sunday 25th |
Corpus et Sanquis Christi.
Solemn Mass, Procession of the Blessed Sacraments and Benediction.
10.00am |
June |
| Sunday 1st |
Parish lunch and family fun
afternoon |
| Sunday 22nd |
Walking Treasure Hunt finishing
with refreshments |
| Saturday 28th |
S. Helen's Carnival Day on
Middlewood Green |
July |
| Saturday 12th |
Day tour to Whitby |
| Sunday 27th |
Summer Fair in the Parish
centre and Middlewood Green |
August |
| Monday 4th to Friday 8th |
Youth Pilgrimage to Walsingham |
| Monday 18th |
S. Helen's Festival. Solemn
Mass, Procession and Benediction with the Bishop of Whitby. 7.30pm
followed by a Parish Party |
| Monday 25th to Friday 29th |
Parish Pilgrimage to Walsingham |
September |
| Sunday 14th |
Holy Cross Day. Parish Party |
| Wednesday 17th |
Coffee Morning in the Parish
Centre |
| Monday 22nd |
Society of Mary. Pilgrimage
to Lourdes |
| Friday 26th to Sunday 28th |
Thanksgiving for the restoration
and of the organ and its dedication |
| Friday 26th |
Opening recital of the restored
organ by Mr. Paul Hale, organist of Southwell Minster |
| Saturday 27th |
Parish Dinner in a local
hotel |
| Sunday 28th |
10.00am Festival Mass
6.00pm Evensong sung by Yarm School Choir and the organ dedication
by the Bishop of Durham |
October |
| Sunday 5th |
Harvest Festival |
| Tuesday 21st to Friday 25th |
Parish holiday in Scotland
Visit the Highlands of Scotland and Glamis Castle |
November |
| Saturday 1st |
Northern Provincial Festival
to York Minster |
| Sunday 2nd |
All Saints' Day |
| Monday 3rd |
All Souls' Day. Solemn Requiem
Mass at 7.00pm |
| Saturday 8th |
Ceilidh Dance in the Parish
Centre |
| Sunday 9th |
Remembrance Sunday |
| Sunday 30th |
S. Nicholas Fayre in the
Parish Centre |
| December |
| Sunday 14th |
Children's Christingle 4.00pm |
| Thursday 18th |
Brass and carols |
| Sunday 21st |
Carol Service |
| Wednesday 24th |
Christmas Eve. Solemn mass
of Midnight 11.30pm |
| Thursday 25th |
Christmas Day. Mass at 9.30am |
January
2009 |
| Saturday 3rd |
Epiphany Dinner |
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