On Sundays, Fr Andrew will lead an online reflection on the week’s Gospel reading.

On Sunday 5 July at 10.30am on Zoom – a shared reflection on today’s Gospel reading. For details of how to take part, join the ‘St Cuthbert’s Parish Community’ Facebook group, or email Fr Andrew on parish.priest@stcuthberts-durham.org.uk Fr Andrew’s homily will also be recorded and posted on Facebook.

There will be a virtual coffee morning on Saturday 4 July at 10.30am on Zoom.

For details of how to join in these events, join the ‘St Cuthbert’s Parish Community’ Facebook group, or email Fr Andrew on parish.priest@stcuthberts-durham.org.uk for the login details.

The Archbishops of Westminster, Southwark, Birmingham and Liverpool have sent a letter to all Catholics in England about the gradual resumption of public worship in our churches. You can read the letter here

 If you can, please consider switching to make your regular contribution to the Parish via a bank Standing Order. For details, contact Andy Doyle on andydoyle1066@sky.com or 0798 543 4185

Please check the parish website, www.stcuthberts-durham.org.uk for regular updates. If you’re not already subscribed to our weekly e-newsletter, you can subscribe here. Also check the ‘St Cuthbert’s Church, Durham’ page on Facebook – from there, you can join our new Facebook group, ‘St Cuthbert’s Parish Community,’ which already has more than 100 members.

We have a network of parishioners who are keeping in touch via telephone, while social distancing is in force. If you would like to be contacted regularly (especially if you don’t have internet access), or if you know someone who would welcome such contact, please contact Fr Andrew on 0191 3843442 or parish.priest@stcuthberts-durham.org.uk.

The following churches in our Partnership will be the first to open, when possible, for limited hours for private prayer:

St Godric’s, Durham

Ss Joseph, Patrick & Cuthbert, Coxhoe

St Joseph’s, Ushaw Moor

The hours of opening for each church will be announced. Before reopening, a risk assessment and a deep clean will be carried out for each church, and churches will be cleaned after each day of opening. The number of people allowed to enter the church will be restricted, to comply with social distancing rules.

Volunteers are needed to clean the church, and to act as stewards to ensure social distancing while the church is open. The Diocesan Handbook for the Reopening of Churches stipulates that:

‘Stewards and cleaners must not be drawn from the clinically extremely vulnerable group who are shielding. Those in the clinically vulnerable group, including people aged 70 or over, could be at a higher risk of severe illness from coronavirus. The clinically vulnerable group are advised to stay at home as much as possible and, if they do go out, take particular care to minimise contact with others outside their household or support bubble. Those from this group who still wish to volunteer will be asked to confirm that they have read and understood the Diocesan Handbook for Re- Opening of Churches and HM Government Guidance on Staying alert and safe (social distancing.)’ 

If, having considered this information, you wish to volunteer to assist with the reopening of churches, you can do so in any of the churches of our Partnership which are opening. To volunteer, please contact Fr Andrew on parish.priest@stcuthberts-durham.org.uk or 0191 384 3442.

Please pray for the six men in formation for priesthood for the Diocese of Hexham & Newcastle, and especially for Rev Jonathon Bowes, who will shortly be ordained to the priesthood, and Luke Wilkinson, who will shortly be ordained a transitional deacon. Their ordination dates have had to be postponed due to the pandemic, and new dates will be announced when possible.

Please consider changing your regular contribution to the Parish via a bank Standing Order. Please feel free to contact Andy Doyle on andydoyle1066@sky.com  or 0798 543 4185.

Mass Intentions can requested by email, telephone or letter. No offering is needed for a Mass intention.

Readings for daily Mass, and the texts for the Prayer of the Church, can be found at www.universalis.com  Texts for the next seven days are available free, or you can subscribe to the Universalis app for unlimited access.

Magnificat includes Morning, Evening and Night Prayer, the daily Mass Readings, a daily mediation and Saint of the Day. It is currently available free at: https://us.magnificat.net/free 

Other resources, including links to live streamed Masses, can be found on the diocesan website, www.rcdhn.org.uk  and the website of the Catholic Bishops Conference for England and Wales: www.cbcew.org.uk 

Many of our parishioners are elderly, or at risk of infection because of an existing condition. Some are self-isolating, in accordance with NHS advice. If you would be able to help with shopping for food and medicine for a housebound person, or if you are in need of such help, please contact Fr Andrew on parish.priest@stcuthberts-durham.org,uk or 0191 384 3442.

We already have a number of volunteers, both parishioners and students (some of whom have been unable to travel home and are staying in Durham), who are ready and willing to help, so please do get in touch.

There are many ways to keep in touch over the coming weeks and months. The website will be regularly updated to give you the latest information.

Please sign up for our e-bulletin, and you’ll receive a weekly email.

Please follow us on Facebook.

We’ve also set up a new Facebook Group, St.Cuthbert’s Parish Community, where you can share your thoughts, prayers, reflections and news. You can join the group on our Facebook page.

If you know of anyone who isn’t able to keep in touch on the internet or the Facebook page, but would welcome contact, please ask them to get in touch with Fr. Andrew on 0191 3843442. We have a network of volunteers who are happy to phone people to chat and pass on any news, and have already been in touch with some people.

In accordance with the statement issued by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales, there will be no further public acts of worship at St Cuthbert’s after Sung Vespers on Friday 20th March, until further notice. This decision has been taken by the Bishops in line with official advice and in order to keep each other safe, save lives and support the NHS. The celebration of Sunday and weekday Mass will take place without a congregation.

An excerpt from the Bishops’ statement:

‘Knowing that the Mass is being celebrated; joining in spiritually in that celebration; watching the live-streaming of the Mass; following its prayers at home; making an act of spiritual communion: this is how we share in the Sacrifice of Christ in these days. These are the ways in which we will sanctify Sunday, and indeed every day. We want everyone to understand that in these emergency circumstances, and for as long as they last, the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days is removed. This is, without doubt, the teaching of the Church (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2181). This pandemic is the ‘serious reason’ why this obligation does not apply at this time.’

You can see live streams of prayer and worship on the Durham Martyrs Parish Facebook page and at www.churchservices.tv/

St Cuthbert’s Church will not close, but will continue to open as a place for prayer and reflection. We will need stewards to watch the church during opening hours. If you are able to volunteer to steward for an hour or two, please contact Fr Andrew on parish.priest@stcuthberts-durham.org.uk or 0191 384 3442.

Please watch the parish website and Facebook page, and our e-bulletin, for updates. You can read the statement from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference here.

Where is this?

We will publish the answer next week!

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has now moved to Stage 2 guidance in its guidance to parishes. This means that, as from now, Holy Communion will not be administered from the chalice, and communicants will be asked to receive the host in their hand. There should be no physical contact at the Sign of Peace, and the holy water stoups will be emptied.

You can read the full guidance here.

Gift Aid (1)
As the parish’s financial year is drawing to a close, we will soon be compiling our Gift Aid return. If any Gift Aid donors now believe that, whether through changes in personal circumstances or increases in tax allowances, they will not have paid sufficient income tax to cover the Gift Aid on their donations (25p for every £1 donated) then please let Fr Andrew or Andy Doyle know as soon as possible. Also, if any donors have changed address in the last year and have not already informed the Gift Aid team at the Diocesan Offices then, again, let Fr Andrew or Andy Doyle know.

If you are not already part of the Gift Aid scheme and would like to know more, contact Andy Doyle on 0798 543 4185 or andydoyle1066@sky.com. Thank you for your generosity.

Gift Aid (2)
For those who donate to the parish via weekly envelopes, could you please include a slip of paper with your name on into the next donation you make. This helps us to ensure that our records are accurate and we do not make mistakes in compiling our returns. Many thanks.

If you were inspired by our Retreat in Daily Life, and would like to meet regularly with a prayer guide, please speak to Fr Andrew, who can provide contact details. St Beuno’s, the Ignatian spirituality centre which sponsors the Retreat in Daily Life, also offers residential retreats: see www.pathwaystogod.org/org/st-beunos