The Parishioner - Edition 24

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Parishioner THE PARISH OF ST FRANCIS GROVE HOUSE, 126 WEEK STREET, MAIDSTONE, KENT ME14 1RH. Telephone: (01622) 756217 Fax: (01622) 690549 Email: stfrancis_parish@yahoo.co.uk Web site: www.stfrancisparish.org.uk Parish Priest: Canon Luke Smith Assistant Priests: Fr Bartlomiej Dudek, Fr Peter Kucharski Ordinariate Priest: Fr Paul Gibbons Parish Deacons: Rev. Tom Coyle & Rev. Ian Black Parishioner Editors: Denis & Ross Neale. Telelephone: 01622 200025. Email: denisneale@blueyonder.co.uk A word from Canon Luke Welcome to the latest edition of the ‘Parishioner’ I would like to thank our editors Denis and Ross Neale for the many hours they have spent eliciting, chasing and editing the various contributions. Similarly I would like to thank all those parishioners who have kindly sourced and prepared articles and photographs. The magazine provides a window onto the life of our parish; reflecting something of the rich tapestry of people, gifts, activities, prayer, shared life and witness that makes up the life of St Francis parish. It also draws us beyond the merely parochial, to issues, events and stories which reflect our Catholic Faith and heritage as well as our communion with the Catholic Church throughout the world. Hopefully this will inspire each member of the parish to take an active part in our worship, and activities, which in turn deepen the bonds of faith and fellowship which knit us together as a parish and of course as part of the universal Church. To those who read this on-line I hope that it bears witness to the warmth, vibrancy of faith, and commitment to the Church I have experienced in the few months since my appointment here as parish priest. I pray that it may be not only informative to all who read it, but also inspire or strengthen you in your relationship with our Lord and his body which is the Church. ‘So in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.’ (St Paul’s Letter to the Romans 12:5) Canon Luke HE (OR SHE!) WHO SINGS PRAYS TWICE. VDo you enjoy singing? If the answer is “Yes” the 10.30 Sunday Mass choir needs you. Though we do our best we could really do with more voices to broaden our sound and to increase our repertoire. Sopranos, altos and especially tenors, baritones and basses are required to enhance the beauty of the Sung Mass. If you can hold a tune pretty well and read music (although that’s not essential), please speak to Geraldine (the organist) after 10.30 Mass on Sunday. We practice every other Saturday morning from 11am to Noon. If this strikes the right note come and join us. Keeping the roof over our heads! Fund raising for the Church Roof Fund is now in full swing,with the total in the kitty already just over £13,000. St. Francis’ Church roof is in very poor condition and needs to be replaced. This is likely to cost in excess of £100,000 so there is a long way to go yet. Quotations are being sought and fuller details of costs and the work involved will be available in due course. Obviously, ongoing fundraising is needed, consequently, the second collections for ‘Maintenance’ will be earmarked for this project. so please be generous. A small team will be coordinating fundraising initiatives so any ideas for raising money will be welcomed. We all know that supermarket’s slogan ‘every little helps’ so we can all do our bit to keep the roof over our heads, either as individuals or small groups, as well as joining in with larger parish fundraising events. Tell it like it is, Canon! CELL GROUP This parish group is for 18 – 40 year olds and meets on alternate Sundays in the dining room at Grove House after the 6pm Mass for discussions, prayer and social time. For further details, please speak to Fr Bart or one of the clergy. All are welcome to come along. Thanks to the URC we can carry on partying! When the parish was advised it was too dangerous to use our old Parish Hall for functions the hunt was on for an alternate venue - a place near St Francis’ Church and large enough to accommodate a big crowd. Fortunately for us, the United Reformed Church in Week Street came to the rescue and generously offered their excellent reception rooms for use when we need them. We have since said “goodbye” to Father John Clark and “hello” to Canon Luke Smith there with two Mary, the fundraising heroine! Stalwart Mary Adam decided to give up all alcohol during Advent and asked other parishioners to sponsor her. In spite of the naysayers and tempters (only joking, Mary) she did it and raised over £1000 for the Church Roof Fund. The picture shows Mary enjoying her first glass of wine on Christmas Day! I said, “Let me work in the fields” Christ said, “No, work in the town” I said, “There are no flowers there” He said, “No flowers but a crown” I said, “But the sky is black; There is nothing but noise and din” Christ wept as he answered back, “There is more,” he said, “there is sin” I said, “But the air is thick And fogs are veiling the sun’ Christ said, “But souls are sick, And souls in the dark are undone’ I said, “I shall miss the light And my friends will miss me, they say” Christ answered, ‘Choose tonight, If I shall miss you – or they.’ George MacDonald November’s winning Quiz Team. well attended receptions. We have also enjoyed a couple of Len and Viv Watson’s notoriously tricky Quiz Evenings, our numbers being bolstered by unsuspecting members of URC. They were fun! Many thanks to Rev. Andrew Royal and his congregation! 2
Phoenix Fund Raisers! Phoenix Youth Club is for all young people from 15 to 18 in all Maidstone schools, the leaders are Fr Bartlomiej Dudek and Lydia Burchell. The Youth Club is held every Friday from 6.30 pm to 9.00 pm in the Youth Room behind the Parish Hall. It is a place for young people to chill out at the end of a busy week at school, meet friends, listen to music, play pool, football, basketball, rounders and table tennis etc. We regularly have trips going ice skating, bowling, midnight hikes with sleepovers, theme parks and other events like Flame 2 at Wembley Arena and Brightlights Festival for young people at Aylesford Priory. The young people decide what they would like to do and the leaders help to arrange it. We have a number of events coming up this year and are especially looking forward to Flame 2 at Wembley Arena in March where 10,000 other young Catholics will be present and there are over 20 young people from Phoenix Youth Club attending. We are also looking forward to Brightlights 2015 and World Youth Day in Krakow in 2016. There will be millions of young people from all over the World experiencing World Youth Day in Krakow in the presence of Pope Francis, it will be an amazing event to be part of. Clara Senior singing Do They Know Its Christmas? Georgina Burchell, Daniel Ellesmere, James Williams and myself at the Heart of Kent Hospice Rainbow Run. Powder paint is thrown at four colour stations so that your t-shirt ends up looking like a rainbow. Fantastic fundraiser for the Hospice and a good training run for the Ashford 10K. Clara Senior, Daniel Ellesmere, James Williams and Lydia, having completed the Ashford 10K race in October. Clara Senior and Lydia ran in 1 hour 7 minutes, Daniel Ellesmere in 44 minutes and James Williams in 46 minutes. The Christmas Show The cast patiently waiting to go on stage Pattinson and Carla Farry. It was fun show written and presented by Georgina Burchell and James Williams and rounds of Family Fortunes included the questions ‘Name a Christmas Show’ and ‘Name a Pudding you would eat on Christmas Day’. Each round was followed by a solo performance and at the end the youth club came together to sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (a favourite We had a great show! Group at the Heart of Kent Hospice Rainbow Run including staff from St Simon Stock School, St Francis’ Church Confirmation Candidates and members of Phoenix Club. “Save the Children Wear Your Christmas Jumper Day” on 12th December. All subs went to the fund. Mikaela De Souza and James Williams, Phoenix members and head boy girl at St Simon Stock School, selling mistletoe for St Francis’ Church Roof Fund. Phoenix Youth Club held their Christmas Show on Friday 19 December. This year members chose to do a show with four solo performances from Amanda Chapman, Annabelle Keane, Bethany Darcey and Clara Senior and rounds of Family Fortunes which included the nativity cast of Mary - Grace Williams, Joseph - Daniel Ellesmere, the Angel Gabriel - Ethan Wheeler, the innkeeper - Olivia Ralph, shepherds – Rebecca Saunders and Tsholofelo Kgarabe and wise men - Rachael McCartan, Sarah Round 3 of Family Fortunes. from their days at St Francis’ Primary School). The show was great fun and completely written and performed by the youth club with technical help from Fr Bart, supported by Sam Griffiths controlling the sound track and Abigael Wallis on lighting. Many thanks to Mark Coatsworth for taking photographs of the dress rehearsal and the show itself. We raised £120.00 towards Brightlights 2015 and World Youth Day in Krakow. A big thank you to all parishioners, family and friends for your support. 3
Page 1: S T F R A N C I S ’ C H U R C H M
Page 5 and 6: It was an ungodly hour that saw 17
Page 7 and 8: During the reign of Queen Elizabeth
Page 9 and 10: My Computer as a Place Len Watson I
Page 11 and 12: 10 Questions and Answers Continuing
Page 13 and 14: P R E D E S T I N A T I O N Christi
Page 15: BAPTISMS July 2014 Ana Hughes, Lind

The Parishioner - Edition 24

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