Eucharist for Pentecost - Whit Sunday 31 May

Veni Creator Spiritus

Endurance, Character & Hope

Changing gear? Patience in faith.

Parish Eucharist - 24 May

Ascension Day reflection

Parish Eucharist - 17 May

Strange times continue...

It’s almost one of the cruellest things about the last two months that we’ve had such a lovely spring! Looking out onto a bright blue sky, seeing the freshness of all that is growing around us, feeling the warmth of the sun… Of course, that is only if you can get out! For those who are able to take up the daily permitted exercise during this time of lockdown - or who have a garden in which they can sit - life is different but not as onerous as it might be. But there are also people who live cooped up in multi-storey flats, or on city streets without the easy access to parks and the countryside which most of us here enjoy. There are people who need to be shielded, dependent on others for shopping and the provision of care; families living on top of each other where stress levels rise and the children need to be home-educated; the people we don’t readily hear from in our Care Homes, so many of them bewildered by a situation which they perhaps can’t grasped - and those who care for them there, daily putting themselves and their families at risk from this unseen virus which can be so easily unleashed.

So there’s a strange dissonance between the beauty of things around us - but invisible forces pressing in on us. This isn’t only our own problem. However well or badly you think the Government has handled things, at least we have resources which can be used for provision, care and the nursing of the sick. In many poorer nations hunger, lack of clean water and a general scarcity of health provision are factors already stacked against their populations as they face the Coronavirus. It’s easy to forget this. And while we are preoccupied with our own needs and fears, we can easily miss the needs of the world’s poor.

As I write, it’s Christian Aid Week. Door-to-door collections can’t take place. Events to support Christian Aid - amongst them our own - can’t go ahead as planned. But please don’t forget its work. See page 12 of our parish magazine to learn more. Look online to see what Christian Aid is doing and wants to do. Discover there and in the newspapers and the media how you can give to support its work. 

My best wishes…

From the special May issue of our Parish Magazine - find much more by following this link

After prayer - a reflection on one of the readings

Today's Eucharist - Easter-tide continues

Clergy are allowed to return to their altars - no congregation, but the offering is for all our people who make up the Body of Christ, and for the communities which make up our parishes.

VE Day from St. John's Church, Castleside

VE Day Commemoration - from St. Cuthbert's Church, Shotley Bridge

The men behind the names

As we approach the 75th anniversary of VE Day, we can't mark the occasion as we would wish. but Rosie Junemann, our Reader, has compiled short biographies of most of those recorded on the memorial in St. Cuthbert's Church.

As we celebrate the partial end of conflict in the Second World War, please remember those who fell - their sacrifice, and the sacrifice of all who seek to serve others.

Read more about these men from our community by following this link.

Compline (1928 Traditional Form)

Today's Eucharist - Good Shepherd Sunday

Getting ready for Sunday

It’s Good Shepherd Sunday tomorrow - you’ll see how it gets its name from the Gospel which is read. Our magnificent east window portrays Christ the Good Shepherd in the context of other scenes in which he brings healing. May we know the truths portrayed here! Share in tomorrow’s Eucharist - hopefully online here by 10.30am.

Find the readings and the Parish Pewsheet by clicking here...