Category Archives: Announcements

Cheese and wine quiz night

Martin Donbavand is raising money to support a family who’s child has downs syndrome and are currently facing some extra challenges. There will be a Cheese & Wine quiz night on Saturday 9th March, 7:00pm at St Oswald’s Institute to raise funds. Tickets are £5 and will be available after 10am Mass today. For more information please contact Martin or Liz Donbavand on 07903888399.

If anybody has any raffle prizes they would like to donate they would be greatly appreciated, these can be dropped off at the parish office. We are looking for donations of wines, spirits and chocolates, thank you.

Catholic Theology Research Seminar

Theology, Evolution and Violence: On Making War or Peace? The annual Teilhard Seminar, supported by the British Teilhard Network, www.teilhard.org.uk Presented by Prof. Celia Deane-Drummond, University of Notre Dame, USA. This Thursday, 7th February, at 5.00pm Pemberton Lecture Room, PG20, Palace Green. The seminar will be followed by a meal for those who wish to take part – contact ccs.admin@durham.ac.uk for more information.

Keyboard Free Music Workshop

The Diocesan Church Music Association presents an accessible ‘KEYBOARD FREE’ music workshop.

Mass parts, psalms and other music suitable for guitars and melody instruments.  Singers also welcome.

Led by Evanna Donachie (Music group member/guitarist at St. Joseph’s Church, Durham) and Alison Purvis (Musical Director at St. Cuthbert’s).

Saturday 9th March 2019 at 10.00am – 3.30pm (approx.) at Ushaw College, Durham.

Cost: £10 to cover room hire and to include a soup and sandwich lunch.

Please note that booking is essential for this event. For further details about the day and to book your place please email: alisonpurvis1@hotmail.com or call on 0191 3719184


Diocesan Holocaust Memorial Evenings

Diocesan Holocaust Memorial Evenings on the theme ‘Torn from Home.’ Tuesday 29th January at 7.00pm at St Mary’s Catholic School, Benton Park Road, Benton, Newcastle upon Tyne NE7 7PE (speaker: Mrs Gay Keenaghan) AND Thursday 31st January at 7.00pm, at St Michael’s Catholic Academy, Beamish Road, Billingham TS23 3DX (speaker: Mr Zigi Shipper BEM). Booking is essential for both events, at www.interreligioushn.eventbrite.co.uk or by telephone on 0191 265 5290.

Finchale Partnership Confirmation programme

A Confirmation preparation programme will be run in the Finchale Partnership during 2019, open to all young people in school Y9 and upwards. The initial information session for young people and their parents is planned for March 2019.  We would like to establish a group of people from across our Partnership – experienced Confirmation catechists and adults who are not catechists but would be willing to help with the sessions.  There will be a meeting on Tuesday 5th February 7.15pm, St Patrick’s presbytery, Langley Moor, DH7 8JJ (parking available, Mass at 6.30pm). If you are interested in helping but cannot attend this meeting please contact Brendan Payne (brendanpayne@doctors.org.uk / 0771 753 1935).

Parish Pastoral Council

At a recent meeting of the Parish Pastoral Council, David Hughes stood down as Chair of the PPC. Thank you to David for all the work he has done in the last few years as chair.

The PPC elected Helen Schofield as the new chair. If you’d like to know more about the PPC, or have ideas about issues we should put on our agenda, please let Helen know. She can be contacted via the parish office.

Thank You

For all your generosity with fundraising over the past year. Before Christmas we sent off a donation to St Cuthbert’s Hospice of £868.64 from money raised at 10am Mass tea and coffees and profits from the Shared Harvest in September (please see letter on the noticeboard). This week we sent off to buy 13 birth certificates and a tree for life with the money raised over Advent and we have twinned our toilet with one in Malawi with money donated over the year in the toilet twinning box.

Ushaw Lecture

Tuesday 22 January 2019: Ushaw Lecture by Julian Coman (The Guardian) on the Politics of Place. Globalisation, the economic crash of 2008 and a migration crisis have triggered a crisis in western European societies. From Brexiting Britain to an Italy where nationalism is resurgent, the far right is mobilising a romantic politics of place and identity, which is hostile to the outsider. How can progressive thought fight back? 5.30pm drinks for 6pm lecture at Ushaw College. All welcome; please register via https://centreforcatholicstudies.eventbrite.com or call 0191 334 1656.