Dates for Your Diary

What’s New Magazine

Please follow the link for the third edition of the What’s New Magazine created by Len with details of upcoming events in the Parish.

Whats New 6 21st July 2024

Thank you to Andrea O’Callaghan

 who retires this time as Head of Thornleigh. Andrea, one of our parishioners, has given a life of service as a teacher with over thirty years at Thornleigh after beginning her career in Oldham. She has touched many people’s lives through her unique combination of compassion, concern, high expectations and humour, living her teaching career as a vocation within the Catholic sector.

Please keep her in your prayers thanking God for all she has achieved and His blessing upon her for the time ahead.

Diocesan Pilgrimages for 2025 Year of Jubilee

We are delighted to announce a number of pilgrimage opportunities in celebration of the 2025 Pilgrims of Hope Jubilee. From Lourdes and Lindisfarne, to Walsingham and Rome – and a wealth of opportunities on our very doorstep – there is something for everybody in this upcoming Year of Jubilee.

Bookings for Rome will open on Monday 5th August with bookings for our other pilgrimages opening soon.

Please stay tuned for further information on how to book or find out more at https://dioceseofsalford.org.uk/news/jubilee-2025/pilgrimages/

Lourdes at Home

This July, we will be celebrating the centenary of our diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes. To help people across the diocese join our Lourdes pilgrims in prayer during our centenary pilgrimage, we will be sharing a range of Lourdes at Home resources for people to pray with at home or in parish groups. These resources will be shared in next week’s bulletin.

Folk Night – Saturday 14th September – Becket Suite

7 for 7.30 pm

Tickets £10 to include Carrs Pasty BYOB

Entertainment by the Folk Group

Money raised going to Alain Kimolo’s Education Project in the DRC – Alain uses the money raised to help children attend school whose parents could not otherwise afford it

Tickets available after mass from 17th August onwards, or contact lucy.cleary@live.co.uk

CATHOLIC PARISH SUMMIT AND ENKINDLE “AWAY DAY”

CATHOLIC PARISH SUMMIT   –  “WHERE IS YOUR PARISH GOING?”

From 12^th to 14^th June three members of our Parish Leadership Team – Fr. Chris, Liz and Pauline attended the Catholic Parish Summit organised by Divine Renovation in Harrogate. There were over 800 delegates from all corners of the UK and different parts of the world gathered together to reflect and pray for renewal in the Church.

OUR PARISH ENKINDLE “AWAY DAY”

 Our invitation gave an opportunity for all those involved in active ministry and leadership in our Parish and those thinking about becoming involved to share this time of worship and celebration together.

 Our time at The Catholic Parish Summit was time well spent and was an inspiring experience, giving a breadth of views both of Faith and of different aspects of Parish life, providing much to consider and think about.

Here are just a few pointers which, along with other initiatives, we will be considering and expanding on:

• Amazing testimonies
• “Dream Big” and “Be Courageous”
• Be rooted in prayer/led by The Holy Spirit
• A Vision that inspires/gives hope/and a new mindset
• Collaborative lay leadership particularly involving our young people
• Be more ministry-minded and outgoing
• A wealth of energy, gifts and talents
• Saying “Yes”/ Sharing the load
• Grow as a Parish
• Renewal – God’s work through us all
• Become missionary
• Reach out to others
• Service

This experience and moving forward with “Where is Our Parish Going?” flowed nicely into our Enkindle “Away Day” of celebrating what we already have;  thinking about what we can build on and how we can equip and grow our Parish for the future.

We would appreciate all attendees letting us have your feedback.   A feedback form has been emailed out to everyone and there are also further copies in the Church porches.  It is important to us to have your views, comments and any suggestions

(if you have not received an email please let us know or take a copy of the form from the Church porches)

Drawing from these learning experiences, we will be looking at what we can offer to everyone in the Parish in the coming year

Please continue to pray to The Holy Spirit for help and guidance for everyone in the Parish as we look to and plan for our future.

Once again, a big thank you to everyone who joined us for our Special Day and this new experience for our Parish.

VOLUNTEER HOSPITAL CHAPLAINS WANTED!

Are you interested in visiting Catholic patients at the Royal Bolton Hospital as a volunteer chaplain? The commitment is modest; just half a day a week – morning or afternoon on a day to suit you. Full support and any necessary training is given and car parking, when on duty, is free. For more information or a chat contact Fr Bob Hayes at the Chaplaincy Office: email robert.hayes@boltonft.nhs.uk or phone 01204 390770.

BIBLE JOURNEYS

Continues meeting  on Monday evening @ SToC Becket Suite from  7.00—8.00 pm. All welcome.

The next session will be:

• Gardens in the Bible

 Past Presentations have included looking at the lives of Mark, Matthew and Luke

Plus excerpts from ‘The Chosen’.

Future Presentations  and topics will look at St Peter & St Paul, John and the lives of other prominent Apostles.

A BIG THANK YOU

CAFOD’s Sudan Crisis Appeal

Millions of families in Sudan, forced to flee their homes amid conflict, now face yet another urgent crisis – extreme hunger. Please give to CAFOD’s Sudan Crisis Appeal in church or at cafod.org.uk/sudanappeal. Your donation will help CAFOD’s partners to support more families with food packages and emergency cash payments as well as rebuilding water pipelines so clean water can reach communities who need it. Thank you for your generosity and prayers.

 You can also text Text CAFODSUDAN to 70450 to donate £10.

 MISSIO is the Pope’s charity for World Mission, helping missionaries to work alongside global communities who are poor or in need, regardless of their background or belief. Your generous support during the last year and going forward, is very much appreciated.

 Date for your Diary:The Annual Mission Mass will be celebrated at Salford Cathedral on Saturday 15^th June at 3 pm. Refreshments will be served afterwards in the Assembly Hall.

 Any queries please contact:

 Bernadette Robinson, St Thomas of Canterbury Tel: 492805 Mairead Pindar St Joseph’s Tel: 491887

FUNERAL PREPARATION

Could you help families as they prepare for a funeral in our parish?  We already have a small group of parishioners who undertake this special ministry and we need to increase our number. You may like to ask yourself these questions.  Could you sit down with family members to guide and help them in their choice of readings and hymns? Could you help on the day of the funeral by welcoming families and looking after them in church?  Could you co-ordinate and liaise with funeral directors to ensure everything in church goes smoothly? Are you interested in this important parish ministry?  If you can answer ‘yes’ to these questions and would like to find our more, please let Fr. Chris or Mary Conway know or leave your contact details at the parish office.

For more detailed information, please come to a meeting after the 10 a.m. Mass on Tuesday, 7 May. 

Friendship and Memory Cafe

Meet every Wednesday from Wednesday 10th January in the Becket Suite, at St Thomas of Canterbury Church Bolton, BL1 4PN : 1pm-3.30

Our doors are open for all members of our parish and the wider community. Bring a friend or a neighbour and enjoy the entertainment, meet new people, renew old acquaintances, whilst having a tea or coffee and a slice of cake.

Contact Mairead on 07428 340797 0r Anne-Marie on 07519 176890

Piety Stall

 The Piety Stall is being relocated to the Main Church Porch at St Thomas of Canterbury.

There are some Christmas items (cards, diaries and Advent candles) already on display for sale and remaining items are in the process of being sorted.

If you need a specific item then please ask.

Emergency Israeli-Palestinian Crisis

Donate online at Cafod.Org.uk

CAFOD World Gifts Catalogue

Each World Gift is a real example of Cafod’s work. Share the hope and joy of Christmas with our Global family. Collect a World Gift Catalogue from church or order your gifts on line.

cafod.org.uk/worldgifts

ST CUTHBERT PARISH DRIVING MINISTRY 

Have you got a car? Can you help some elderly parishioners get to/ from church for Saturday or Sunday Mass?

If so, the church is looking for volunteers to join the drivers’ Rota.

 You can still help if you are not available every weekend. The more volunteers we have, the less you have to do!

PLEASE CONTACT JUDITH 07882688972 (11.15 MASS) or JACKIE 07888888889 (9.30AM MASS)

FORMATION – A LIFE OF LEARNING

WORD ON FIRE AND OTHER RESOURCES

We are seeking someone with IT and administration skills to support and develop

improved communication with Parishioners via use of a specifically designed software

tool. This is an exciting step forward for the Parish, enabling us to share spiritual and

formation resources, as well as parish updates and relevant information.

If you are able to help please contact the Parish Office – telephone 01204 497068

or email – office@stcuthberts.org.uk

 We ask everyone to please pray to the Holy Spirit for the right person to come forward to help.

To those parishioners who have signed up to receive the Word On Fire Resources we apologise for the delay.  There have been some issues with the database administration side of things. Please be patient and we hope to have this resolved shortly.

HOUSE PRAYER GROUPS

DURING LENT A NUMBER OF OUR PARISHIONERS TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO GATHER TOGETHER TO PRAY THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS  AT HOME.

ONE GROUP TOOK IT IN TURNS TO HOST THE SESSIONS IN THIER DIFFERENT HOMES AND USING DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE STATIONS. ALL THOSE WHO TOOK PART THROUGHOUT THE PARISH FELT IT WAS A VERY WORTHWHILE EXPERIENCE AND ENJOYED THE TIME TOGETHER.

SOME PARISHIONERS ARE NOW LOOKING AT CONTINUING TO MEET UP TO  HAVE SOME PRAYER / MEDIATION TIME TOGETHER.

IF ANYONE WOULD BE INTERESTED  IN HOSTING PRAYER SESSIONS AT HOME PLEASE LET US KNOW BY EMAILING THE OFFICE   office@stcuthberts.org.uk  or TELEPHONE 01204 497068

REMINDER—DATABASE / PARISH REGISTER / EMAILS

 As you are aware we are in the process of updating our database/Parish register. Please follow the instructions you will find on the last few newsletters archived in the parish website, to update your details, if you haven’t done so already.

 An additional item is the delivery of the Parish Newsletter Supplement. Do you want to receive an emailed version of the supplement.?  If so please let the parish office know by email.

This information will only be used to send you emails about our Parish Services, Events and other Parish information. We will not share your email address with any third party. For information about how we protect your data please see our privacy policy which can be located here: (stcuthberts.org/privacy)

REMINDER  –  ‘Word on Fire’ again if you want to receive this free information follow the instructions from previous newsletters, which you will find archived on the parish website

SAFEGUARDING

We are looking for a couple of people to come forward to assist in our Safeguarding Ministry.   We are looking for persons with a background knowledge and understanding of safeguarding to operate as part of a team.    There is some admin work involved with the role. Training and support will be provided.

If you are able to assist or require any further information please contact the

Parish office by email: office@stcuthberts.org.uk or telephone 01204 497068.

We ask everyone please to pray to The Holy Spirit for the right people to come forward to help in this very important Ministry.