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Current Newsletter

To contact Parish Secretary, Julia Hathaway at the Parish Office please use the email office@sthughandstjohntimperley.co.uk

Telephone - 0161 973 1694  or 0771 1428 970

Week commencing 7th March 2021

FR PAT WRITES:“As we ease our way out of lockdown, many parts of our lives that have been put ‘on hold’ this past year will hopefully soon get the ‘green light’ to resume. One such is the project for alterations and refurbishment of our Church. The original postponement was due to my illness in February 2019. The architect’s initial plans which were displayed in March 2020 are also on our website. Your comments at that time were passed on to the Diocesan-appointed architect Robert Harrington. In the light of these and in further consultation with Fr. Chris Matthews, (Diocesan Historic Arts & Architecture Commission), Richard Crawford, (Diocesan Director of Property) Fr. Pat and Fr. Tomasz, the revised plans will be posted on our website in ample time for a virtual parish meeting on Thursday 18th March 5.30 pm – see below for details. The architect Rob Harrington will give the presentation; the meeting will also be attended by Fr. Chris Matthews and Richard Crawford, all of whom will be happy to clarify and answer any questions you may have. 

This is all good news at a time when many Diocesan projects are on hold due to the economic downturn in the current financial climate. Our church will have its fortieth anniversary of opening on 13th December 2021 and it is our desire for the project to be completed before then. One of the blessings during the pandemic is the emergence of many new volunteers to further enrich the mission and work of our parish. Following Bishop Mark’s recent pastoral letter on responding to the challenges of rebuilding our parishes after lockdown, we are very much up for it!!

Jesus’ symbolic action in today’s Gospel on the cleansing of the temple in Jerusalem carries some profound messages. We need to look afresh into the interior temple of our hearts and the temple in which we gather as God’s family here to raise our awareness for ‘Spring cleaning’. Let us see Lent as that sacred and graced filled time for this work.”

Numbered booking forms for Palm Sunday, Holy Week and the Easter Masses are available ONLY from church.  Please don’t take forms to pass to friends, just take one for yourself.  Please complete and return it to the box in the church porch or to the parish office in the presbytery if the church is closed.  They are coming in thick and fast, so please don’t delay.  Booking confirmations are beginning to go out now.

OFFERTORY ENVELOPES are available in the porch for those who have signed up; please collect them as soon as you can.  Many boxes were not collected or used last year.  If you need or want envelopes but don’t have them, or have them but no longer want them, please let us know either by email or by a note on the clipboard by the boxes.  Gift aiding your offerings can give a boost to parish finances at no personal cost, at a time when every penny is needed.

MINISTERING AND STEWARDING OVER EASTER: If you are a Minister of the Word or of the Eucharist and are available over Holy Week and Easter, please let Fr Tomasz or Julia in the office know so we can put together a rota.  Some more volunteer stewards have come forward which is very helpful.  Can you help out? Perhaps there are some young people who would like a little community service?  Let us know.
You may have noticed some new equipment in the church – the hand sanitizer dispenser at the entrance and the “magical misting machine” which creates a fog of anti-bacterial spray and means that the church can be cleaned very much faster than doing each pew by hand.  Our heartfelt thanks go to the donors of these items!

LENTEN GROUP FOOD COLLECTION.  The Justice and Peace Group has a food collection box in the church porch which will be emptied regularly.  If you could spare tins or other non-perishable goods that are in date, or some toiletries, we will distribute them to the charities on your behalf.

ONLINE CHILDREN’S LITURGY MEETINGS have now resumed through Zoom on Sundays at 10.15am.  Meeting information is on the website, and the meeting ID is 434 073 1443, Passcode: DZ3DEC, https://zoom.us/j/4340731443?pwd=RCtHNThuMWxLcGhXZ2JnYi9Tbld2UT09 .

VIRTUAL PARISH MEETING on Thursday 18th March 5.30 pm. This meeting has been arranged by the Diocese and will be held on GOTO Meeting.  You can download the app here: https://global.gotomeeting.com/install/636139189 or you can join by phone but be aware that it’s an American telephone number. 
The joining details are St Hugh & St John - Building Project  Thu, Mar 18, 2021 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM (GMT)
Join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone. https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/636139189
For phone dial-in:  United States: +1 (646) 749-3122
Access Code: 636-139-189

GOSPEL REFLECTIONS are held each Tuesday during Lent, and it has been good to see a few extra faces each week.  We encourage you to attend at 6.45pm.  The reflection is followed by Mass at 7.30pm.

LENT PENITENTIAL SERVICE: a reminder that our Lent Reconciliation Mass will be on Tuesday 30th March, which is during Holy Week, and therefore a timely opportunity to celebrate the sacrament for Easter.  Online bookings for this are open.  We had a great turnout last time for Advent and are hoping for the same again for this one!  This will take the form of a Mass followed by opportunities for personal Reconciliations.

LIVING LENT IN LOCKDOWN: 8, 15 and 22 March.  How do you live your life faithfully in these times of fear and uncertainty? During Lent, Living Waters Prayer Group invites you to a series of three evenings entitled Living Lent in Lockdown, via Zoom, on Mondays 8th, 15th, 22nd March. Starting at 7.30 and lasting about an hour, sessions will consist of a prayer, a short talk followed by a discussion, and conclude with Night Prayer of the Church and a blessing.  Please contact eddiedrozdziak@gmail.com for Zoom joining instructions.

14th March is LAETARE SUNDAY, everyone is invited to wear pink to Mass to celebrate this joyful day marking the middle of Lent.  Fr Tomasz and Fr Pat will also be wearing pink vestments, something that only happens twice a year. (A reminder that 14th March is also Mothering Sunday may not go amiss!)

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