Parish Newsletter

Liturgical

Matthew 21, 1-11; Isaiah 50, 4-7; Psalm 21; Philippians 2, 6-11; Matthew 26, 14-27

Saturday 6.00 pm: Rowton Methodists: Tess and Paul Connor
Sunday 9.00 am: St Werburgh’s: Catherine Wenrle (L.D. Bushey, Herts)
Sunday 10.45 am: St Werburgh’s: Mary Taylor (Birthday Remembrance)
Sunday 6.00 pm: St Werburgh’s: Kathleen and Raymond Wilbraham

Monday 3rd April: Monday of Holy Week: Isaiah 42, 1-7; Psalm 26; John 12, 1-11
12.15 pm: St Werburgh’s: Frank McInerney (L.D., Limerick)
1.10 pm: University Chapel: Weekly University Mass – All Welcome
7.00 pm: St Werburgh’s: Confirmation Class Five for Adults

Tuesday 4th April: Tuesday of Holy Week: Isaiah 49, 1-6; Psalm 70; John 13, 21-38
11.00 am: St Werburgh’s: Thanksgiving (Kathleen Rivas)
12.00 noon: Blacon: Funeral Service for Mark Mitchell, late of Newtown

Wednesday 5th April: Wednesday of Holy Week: Isaiah 50, 4-9; Psalm 68; Matthew 26, 14-25
11.20 am: Blacon: Funeral Service for Carole O’Brien, late of Aaron Court NH
12.15 pm: St Werburgh’s: Thomas Byrne (1st Anniversary)
7.00 pm: St Werburgh’s: Confirmation Class Six for Youngsters

Thursday 6th April: Maundy Thursday

10.30 am: Tattenhall Monthly House Mass – please email FP for venue.
12.15 pm: St Werburgh’s: Chrism Mass: Cliff Mansfield (Birthday Remembrance)
7.30 pm: St Werburgh’s: Mass of the Lord’s Supper: Betty Park (L.D.)
8.30 pm – 11.55 pm: Watching at the Altar of Repose
Midnight: St Werburgh’s: Compline

Friday 7th April: Good Friday

3.00 pm: St Werburgh’s: Liturgy of the Passion

Saturday 8th April: Holy Saturday

8.30 pm: St Werburgh’s: Easter Vigil and First Mass of Easter: Geraldine Pile
Midnight: St Werburgh’s: Midnight Mass of Easter: Matthew Robinson

SUNDAY 9th APRIL 2023: EASTER SUNDAY (YEAR A)

Acts 10, 34-43; Psalm 117; Colossians 3, 1-4; John 20, 1-9

Sunday 9.00 am: St Werburgh’s: Alex Barnes
Sunday 10.45 am: St Werburgh’s: Syd Jones
Sunday 6.00 pm: St Werburgh’s: Agnes Scanlan

Prayer Intentions

Your prayers are asked for the following who are sick: Kath Stanton, Brian Boardman Jnr, James Convey,
Bill Hackett, Laura Chadwick, Stuart Clark, Keith Hayes, Ruth O’Kane, and Kevin Maguire and for all the sick of the Parish; and for those who have died recently, especially Mark Mitchell and Carole O’Brien; and for those whose anniversaries occur about this time: Mary Stockton, Julia Zao, Mary Jordan, Johanna Ryan, May Brierley, Joan Hughes, Joanna Yeardsley, James Roberts, Audrey Steele, Sally Booth, Annie Houghton, Florence Taylor, Frances Shepherd, Peter Hoban, Colin Brown, Bill Collins, Frederick Hutchinson, Edward O’Brien, Margaret O’Connor, Alec Edwards, Ester Dunning, Lily Weatherley, William Walsh, Tony Petranca, Betty Williams, Hilda Kinsey, Ann McGowan-Scanlon, Betty Thomson, Berni Edge, Vicky Ballard, Jack Lebeter, Dennis Hurley and John Dolan. May they all Rest in Peace.

Parish Information and Contacts

SVP: svpchester@gmail.com Countess of Chester Chaplaincy: 01244 364543.
St Werburgh’s is part of the Diocese of Shrewsbury: Registered Charity No 234025.
Safeguarding Reps: Liz Aiello (email: elizabeth.aiello20@btinternet.com, tel: 07813743723) and
Chris Proudfoot (email: chrisproudfoot.stwerbughs@btinternet.com, tel; 07711495070)

Parish events

Holy Week and Easter Volunteer Rota

Well done, everyone! Almost completely full now, but there are still odd gaps from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday inclusive for the following roles: Communion Stewards / Welcomers, Offertory Collectors, Procession of the Oils, and Washing of the Feet. Please sign up today if you can possibly do so. Many thanks! Make FP happy? A gap-free rota by Palm Sunday evening!

Church Cleaning Next Wednesday Morning

Wednesday morning, 9.00 am. Please come along, and between us it won’t take long to give the church a spring clean for Easter. Many thanks to those of you who indicated you’d be willing to go on a regular rota for Church Cleaning, and this will be up and running after Easter, on a Wednesday morning. Anyone else like to join us? Hilda Ogden headscarves and curlers supplied.

The End of Communion Stewarding

As announced, we are no longer going to use stewards for communion, except on High Days and Holy Days, but… Fire Marshals are needed: we are required to have 3 Fire Marshals on duty at Sunday Mass, a role that our communion stewards previously fulfilled. The duty is simply about getting people out of the church safely, in the event of a fire alarms sounding. In addition we would ask the Fire Marshals looking after the exits at the front of church to start the side aisles moving to communion at the appropriate point, to avoid congestion at the back of church. No stewarding is required! If you could volunteer for this role please let FP or Marian (marian.mccarthy@btinternet.com) by Easter Monday, 10th April. Training sessions will be organised.

Gift Aid: Some Important Notices

• If you no longer pay income tax, please let Fr Paul or Denise Jones know by 5th April, otherwise it will be assumed that you have paid sufficient income tax for the Parish to claim Gift Aid on your donations for the tax year 2022/23. Thank you.
• Change of Address: Please let us know if you have changed your home address in the last 2 years.
• Offertory Envelopes 2023/24: If you have not yet collected your box, please take it as soon as possible. Thank you.
• Joining the Gift Aid Scheme: If you pay income tax, joining the Gift Aid scheme increases the value of your donations to the Parish by 25% at no extra cost to you. If you are interested in joining the scheme, please contact Fr Paul or Denise Jones.

House-Share in Hoole Available

A room available for rent in Hoole. Lovely 2 bed house only a 10-minute walk away from City centre. £550 pcm. All bills included. See FP if interested.

Calling All Eucharistic Ministers

Would as many as possible come to the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Maundy Thursday Evening (7.30 pm) for the renewal of vows? We appreciate that this reintroduction may well be the moment for some to decide to stand down, and this is fully in the spirit of our ongoing Parish Renewal.

Easter Day by Days and Sacred Heart Messengers

Now on the table at the back of Church, £1 each.

Extra Blessed Palms

In the basket at the back of church after Palm Sunday is over, so do please help yourselves.

Christian Aid Lent Lunches

Huge thanks to everyone who supported and all those who cooked/served! We’ll try to give you a total amount raised in the near future.

SVP Membership Support Officer (MSO)

The SVP would like to recruit a MSO for the Shrewsbury Diocese. A part time role (15 hours per week) working as part of the SVP Membership Team, to support member recruitment and development, provide general support for members and be the link between local Conferences and National Office. Contact Lance Philpott, Head of Membership at lancep@svp.org.uk Closing date for applications is Sunday 16th April 2023.

Easter Flowers Second Collection Last Weekend

Just under £500 raised, so many, many thanks to everyone for their very generous response.

Lent Friday Evenings: 7.30 pm

Beautiful in-person Stations last Friday from Denise rounded off our 2023 series. Of the six Fridays, four were in church and two on-line via Zoom. Four were Stations and two were Lenten Meditations. We do hope this mix kept everyone happy. If you’d like to organise a Lent Friday Evening in 2024, we’d love to hear from you.

Lent Chapel Visits

We finished last Thursday with a lovely visit out to St Deiniol’s Church and the Gladstone Library next door. Good to have so many of you with us for these afternoon visits, and huge thanks to Judith for all the organisation.

So, when does Lent officially end?

I’ve told you all so many times, I’m beginning to think you only ask in order to be vexatious. For the very last time: Lent ends 7.05 pm Easter Sunday evening. Lent begins and ends, as you know, with beautiful liturgical sounds: it starts with the cry “Remember, man, that thou art dust” and concludes with the equally resonant sound of “clink-clink-clink, glug-glug, fizzzzzzz”. OK? Just one difference this year: the final sound will be “clink-clink-clink, glug-glug-glug-glug-glug, fizzzzzzz”. It’s been one of those years.

Photo of the Week: November 2020’s Bulbathon

Six months into lock-down we all needed a little cheering up, so everyone was invited to donate a bulb of anything, to stick into the front garden. (But when I said ‘anything’. I meant anything that would flower, Olive – not a bag of garlic blubs! Honestly, what’s she like?) Each spring, they come up more beautiful than the year before. Here’s a photo of the yellow daffodils, which comes after the snowdrops and croci, and just before the white daffodils beginning on the left of the photo. Next up (good, eh?) will be the tulips, and then the forget-me-nots and bluebells. Gladdens the heart, doesn’t it? For those who have a heart, of course…