The feast of the Holy Trinity

After three days of terribly gloomy weather, the sun shone again today - and we celebrated the Feast of the Holy Trinity.

The music was joyous, helped by Greg Floyd's guitar. Both our cantors were away this weekend, but the music group did well to lead the singing. There was a rousing finale with Our God Reigns.

Father Ted announced the results of the parish survey, completed by 105 people. You can read these are a separate post. It was good to see such a large number of people (66%) saying they either would definitely like to become more involved in parish life, or perhaps might like to. The parish council meets this Thursday night when everyone is welcome to attend. The parish council hopes to adopt a plan for the future at its autumn meeting.

Who will be chair of the parish council? Find out on Thursday. The story about this has had an amazing 125 hits on the parish website!

Don't forget that the parish walk takes place on Sunday June 1st at 3pm. Bring some cakes along to share afterwards if you can. The parish barbecue is on Friday June 13th at 7pm. Bring something along to cook.

The findings of the parish survey

These are the findings of the parish survey:

ComingTogether – Sacred Heart Parish Survey 2008
Many thanks to the 105 people who completed the survey. Here are the results:
Which age group are you in?
Under 15 – 9% 16-25 – 2% 26-40 – 6.5% 41-60 27% 60+ - 58%
Are you male or female?
Male – 22% Female – 78%
How many are there in your household?
1-17.5% 2-47% 3-12% 4-17.5% 5-5% 6-1%
Where do you live?
Cawston Grange-7% Woodlands-12% Admirals-9% Beechcroft-4% Bilton Village-20% Shakespeare Gardens Estate-5% Grandborough-0% Willoughby-1% Dunchurch-9% Outside the parish-38%
How often do you attend Mass?
Daily or weekly-92.5% Fortnightly-6.5% Never-1%
Are you Roman Catholic?
Yes-99% No-1%
What is the main reason you come to Mass?
Faith-85% Habit-5% Children-6% Can’t get to mass-1% Social reasons-1.5% Mother makes me-1.5%
Do you feel well informed about parish life?
Yes-93% No-7%
Do you have any needs which are not being met at present?
Home blessing-4 Home visits-5 Deepening spirituality-4 Transport-2
One mention each for: youth provision, outreach, getting to know people, moral guidance, liturgical study, ecumenical activity, justice and peace, interfaith dialogue, more traditional hymns.
Would you like to become more involved in parish life?
Yes-23% Perhaps-43% No-34%
Which way would you like to become more involved?
Youth club – 2 people, plus one mention each for: summer fete, Christmas fair, anything, UCM, welcoming new parishioners in Cawston, social events, domestic help, book swopping, making a welcome pack, children’s liturgy, justice and peace, eco-congregation, Monday Club.

Ideas for the future of the parish

These are some of the ideas which emerged from the parish survey. More ideas are welcome.
If you have any, please add them. They will all be considered by the parish council.

The ideas:
a welcome pack for new parishioners
a picture board identifying group contacts
themed weekends to invite parishioners to become more involved in parish life
a badge weekend
a needs board, so parishioners could ask for practical help (eg transport to church)
developing our role as an eco-congregation
events to develop our spirituality together

Pentecost at Sacred Heart

As Father Ted put it, this was a double whammy: it was Pentecost - marking the birth of the Church - and it was a special day for eight young parishioners making their First Communion. It was also a gloriously sunny morning to make it extra special.

The youngsters were Prudence, Molly, Harrison, Ella, Grace, Sophie, Danny and Martin and this was the culmination of a long journey of preparation. There was some wonderful singing - traditional Sacred Heart songs such as Be Still for the Presence of the Lord, and God alone may lead my spirit. The children took a cake up to the altar to mark the birthday of the church, and to eat at the party afterwards. A huge congregation saw many standing at the back and using overflow rooms.

There were presentations afterwards to catechists Diane Davies and Pat Francis, and to parish priest Father Ted.

Don't forget that next weekend the results of the parish survey will be published. There has been huge interest in it - with our website story on the survey receiving more than 100 views.

Nominations are invited for the position of parish chair. You will need to chair about four meetings a year, attend various sub-committees and liaise with the parish priest and parish secretary - but you do not need to be a current member of the council. Nomination forms are available in the entrance hall.

The Feast of the Ascension

Today we celebrated the Feast of the Ascension, now transferred to a Sunday. It was also Catholic Communications Sunday and we prayed for all those involved in the work of communication. Father Ted it was also 50 years since St Clare had been pronounced patron saint of television - though not all of television's output is consistent with the church's teaching!

The music group led us in singing 'I rejoiced when I heard them say' as an entrance hymn, the beautiful 'O God you search me and you know me' and the final hymn 'Christ Triumphant'.

The children's group returned from their own liturgy with a giant banner about Jesus' going up to heaven.

The results of the parish survey - Coming Together - will be announced on Trinity Sunday. An amazing 105 responses were received - a tremendous achievement.

Blagovest entertained a large audience last Sunday and reports suggest it was a wonderful concert. The attendance was bigger than usual.

Next week, a group of our young parishioners will be making their First Communion. This is also Pentecost Sunday, so it should be a great celebration. On Wednesday this week, everyone is invited to the UCM bingo night which begins at 8pm. Eyes down!

There were prayers for Harold Hickman who has sadly died and for Colin Silver, a member of St Mark's parish, who is unwell. There is a full list of those who are sick on the main parish website.

Today was supposed to be the hottest day of the year so far - but it still managed to rain!

Don't forget the parish woodland walk which takes place on the afternoon of Sunday June 1st at 3pm. Make a note in your diaries.