Prayer for Our Churches: St Patrick’s Parish Centre, Tuesday18th Oct., 09.30 - 10.15 am. All welcome.
Monthly Bible Fellowship: 3:30 – 4:45 Mondays. St Andrew’s Methodist Church, looking at the LectionaryGospel readings for thenext month. All are invited to these discussions.
Churches Together in DH7' is running the 'Freedom in Christ' course; 9 weeks,on Wednesday evenings from 7.30 to 9pm, at St Andrew's Brandon, starting on 19 October.
‘Freedom in Christ’ explores who we are in Christ, how we can take hold of the freedom Jesus has won for us, and how we can grow in fruitfulness.
All are welcome. If you would like to know more, please contact Revd Rosemary Cox: tel. 0191 373 1359, email
For your prayers: ‘OPEN THE BOOK’
The first of the ‘Open the Book’ assemblies in New Brancepeth Primary School was held on Monday 26th Sept. The topic was the creation story with Fr. Carl as God, and several children bringing to the front Sun, Moon, Stars, Flowers, Animals, etc. It seems to have been well received. The next one is on Mon. 17th Oct. The story is the Fall – tricky!?
Please remember ‘Open the Book’ for New Brancepeth in your prayers.
Brandon Parish Magazine
October2016
St. John’s Church, Brandon
St. Catherine’s Church, New Brancepeth
Sunday services
St. John’s - 9.45 am Holy Eucharist
St. Catherine’s - 8:45 am Holy Eucharist (also some at 6.00 pm)
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; Denise -3781285:
St. Catherine’s: Joe (Churchwarden) – 3739927; Liz-3731554
Website
Events:
Thursday Coffee at St. John’s: 27th Oct. at 10.30 am
Trip to York the over sixties have a day trip to York there’s vacancies on the bus £8 per person anyone interested please see Shirley Aberdeen.
St. John’s HallWe had our first meeting with D3 Associates and they need to know what we want the building to be used for. If anyone has any ideas on what you want to see in the new hall please email or telephone 07846542035
We have a few events planned
November 19th St John’s Church Brandon are having a Xmas fayre from 12pm for church funds. Craft stalls, refreshments, tombola and raffle. Help is needed to set up the night before and clear up afterwards.
December 2nd 2016 a rock and roll night including a raffle at Meadowfield British legion from 7pm. Tickets £3, fancy dress encouraged.
December 4th at Brandon welfare Hall St Johns Hallhas a tombola and name the bear for hall funds. XmasFayre for Co Durham clothing bank from 1 pm.
December 10th a community Xmas event at Brandon Carrside youth club from 2pm. Animals including a meerkat and red fox, face painting and Santa will be there, free event.
For anyone who shops at Brandon Co-op there is a new membership scheme. For every £1 spent on own goods and services 1% goes to the community pot and 5% to yourself. There are leaflets in the store to explain. Three charities have been chosen by the staff: St. John's hall, St. Andrews youth club and Brandon community centre. The money raised from the 5p carrier bag charge has been added so all three started with £415. The scheme runs for six months.
St. Catherine’s Friendship Lunches. This a major new initiative to make use of our renovated building for the village community – please pray for it!
We are working with the Wellbeing for Life (WBL), Colour your Life (CYL) and Durham Community Action (DCA) teams to develop regular luncheon and coffee sessions which will be open to all members of the public. We are keen to target older, more vulnerable residents and invite them along to partake in social activity as well as offer food and refreshments. We are submitting an AAP grant application to support our initial food costs and activity materials. To start with we would like to offer the sessions free in November and December. In the New Year we would look to charge for sessions, with a caterer supplying the food.
The dates planned initially are (all sessions Wednesdays 11.00 – 1.00 pm):
9th Nov., Lunch with Beetle Drive
23rd Nov., Coffee morning with taster from ‘Colour your Life’.
(Sat. 3rd Dec., St. Catherine’s Christmas Fayre – not part of this programme)
14th Dec., Christmas Lunch with Xmas Quiz.
Wellbeing for Life will help us by recruiting some volunteers to help with moving tables, serving food, etc.
DID YOU KNOW?
That from Thurs. 2nd to Sun. 5th March 2017 bishops and teams will be in Durham Diocese for Talking Jesus, four days of events to get people talking about Jesus. A special edition of Mark’s Gospel will be available to give away over this weekend and beyond. So parishes have a great opportunity with the help of visiting teams to reach out to our friends and neighbours in our local communities to share God’s love. There will also be some larger event organised by the Durham Deanery.
Liz Gregory-Smith (0191 3731554) is our parish’s representative on the group coordinating events. Please give her any ideas you may have for events or activities.
So Fr. Brian loved Walsingham and its message for the Church and the World, and he believed that Mary’s ‘Yes’ helps us in our lives to say our ‘yes’ to God. Mary, that lowly Virgin of Nazareth says to us today what she said to the steward at that wedding feast at Cana in Galilee when the wine ran out, ‘Go to Jesus and do whatever he tells you’.
What does Jesus tell us? Love God and love one another. All that we believe by faith Fr. Brian knows as a living reality. In this Mass we entrust him again to God and His Kingdom which has no end. Fr. Brian used to say, ‘The best is yet to come!’
Fr. Brian loved God and Jesus and the Mass and Mary. He loved being here; he loved you and the privilege of being your priest. For such a long time I had the joy of living and working with him and that privilege of being able to call him my friend.
May he be at peace and rest in peace. May we all be held in the love of God and the prayers of our Lady of Walsingham.
Points to ponder!
- ‘The greatest Christian claim is: He is Emmanuel, God with us.’
- ‘In Jesus we are beloved daughters and sons.’
- ‘All parishes need a praying heart; not just priests who pray but people as well. We are nothing if we don’t pray.’
- ‘In the power of the Holy Spirit we are compelled not only to live by faith but to share it, by love, by words and by deeds.’
- ‘Fr. Brian used to say, “The best is yet to come!”’
Manasseh and Catrin’s Wedding
Liz and David were privileged to attend the wedding of Catrin Weitzel and Manasseh Tuyizere on 10th September in Germany. Many will remember Manasseh from Rwanda who stayed with us several times during holidays while studying in UK. Some will have met Catrin who visited Durham three times over the last year.
Manasseh is the Mission and Training Coordinator for the Anglican Diocese of Kigali. His day to day work involves helping the congregations to be more mission-focused in their thinking and practice; to equip and train evangelists, clergy and missionaries. He is involved in leading youth services and preaching at the Cathedral.
Catrin worked in Zambia for five years to set up community schools and ministry among people with special needs. At the beginning of Catrin's time in Rwanda she will learn the local language, Kinyarwanda. Then she will join a team of the Diocese of Kigali to start the Early Child Development Programme.
If anyone would like to pray regularly for Catrin and Manasseh, there are some prayer cards at the back of the church.
Sermon by Fr. Peter Brown on the 4th anniversary of Fr. Brian Godsell, 6th September, at St. John’s Church, Meadowfield
Thank you for what you are doing to remember Fr. Brian – such a lovely thought and tribute to a priest who served St. John’s / St. Catherine’s, St. Luke’s and the community so faithfully.
I chose this Mass in honour of our Lady of Walsingham because it says so much about Fr. Brian and all he believed. At the heart and centre of Fr. Brian was his belief and delight in the incarnation. As that gospel reading of the annunciation shows: through Mary, her faithfulness to God, and against all odds and difficulties ‘the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us’. Mary’s Son is God’s Son; the Holy Child of Bethlehem is Jesus; the Word made flesh. The greatest Christian claim is: He is Emmanuel, God with us.
It was because of this the late Bishop David Jenkins, who brought Fr. Brian and myself to this parish, could say, ‘As Christians, if we are not up to it, then God is down to it.’ At the heart of our faith is this wonderful gift, that God came down to earth from heaven. God loves us so much that he became one of us. And this Father of our Lord Jesus Christ wants us to be part of his family with Jesus, Mary and Joseph. And that is what the meaning of the story of Walsingham and the Holy House is all about. The Virgin Mary during the time of Edward the Confessor appeared to the Lady Richeldis in a vision and asked her to build a chapel to represent the house the Holy Family lived in. So Walsingham became known as England’s Nazareth. It was given to us, through Mary, from God, to let us know that we belong and are part of His family. In Jesus we are beloved daughters and sons.
That is the good news of the Gospel: In Jesus, God is close. Or again as Bp. David Jenkins used to say, ‘God is closer than close’. And isn’t that what each parish witnesses to; isn’t that our evangelistic thrust and heart. In the power of the Holy Spirit we are compelled not only to live by faith but to share it, by love, by words and by deeds.
Fr. Brian trained for the priesthood at Mirfield with the Community of the Resurrection and in his earlier days he had thoughts of going back to join that monastery. But parish life got hold of him! It wasn’t always easy, because there could be a shyness and reserve about him. His gifts were as a teacher and thinker and so he could preach inspiring sermons. Fr. Brian also had a big pastoral heart, with a care and a respect and a love and value for all people. All that he was and did was upheld and undergirded by prayer and his belief in the power of prayer. All parishes need a praying heart; not just priests who pray but people as well. We are nothing if we don’t pray.
Yes, we know Fr. Brian could be serious. But his humanity and warmth of character shone through because he could also be very funny, with a wicked, dry and quick sense of humour, especially in the way he used words – and sometimes to his own personal cost. He was also the most honest person I knew. I am not trying to make Fr. Brian to be a saint; only God can do that! Like us all he knew he was a sinner, with is frailties and weaknesses. But he knew he depended on God’s mercy and grace, and this was very evident, not only in his life but also how he faced his illness and death.
Fr. Brian loved and had great faith in what we are doing now: celebrating Mass – its gift, wonder and miracle – how the Mass unites us to all that Jesus is and how the Lord gives Himself to us in the gift of the Eucharist, in His body and blood.