Parish Newsletter

Sunday Morning Mass – Numbers Plateauing Out!

• Week One: Sunday 19th July: 147
• Week Two: Sunday 26th July: 198
• Week Three: Sunday 2nd August: 201
• Week Four: Sunday 9th August: 215
• Week Five: Sunday 16th August: 232
• Week Six: Sunday 23rd August: 243
• Week Seven: Sunday 30th August: 257
• Week Eight: Sunday 6th September: 270
• Week Nine: Sunday 13th September: 270
• Week Ten: Sunday 20th September: 257
• Week Eleven: Sunday 27th September: 253
• Week Twelve: Sunday 4th October: 268

This is about 67.5% of our "normal” Sunday Morning Mass congregation. Thanks, everyone - and thanks Taskforce, Cleaners and Stewards especially. We couldn’t do it without you!

Next Sunday’s 12.00 Noon Mass - 18th October

Stella Farrell’s 1st Anniversary Mass, and Joe is wanting to bring a large number of family and friends to mark this important date. You will all be very welcome indeed! So, just a word of warning: with limited capacity, probably a Mass to avoid next Sunday unless you are coming especially for Stella. Many thanks, everyone!

Track and Trace: Government Covid-19 QR Code

Thank you everyone for your patience each Sunday morning as we necessarily collect names and contact details for everyone entering church. We are also supporting the Government’s Test and Trace App. The NHS COVID-19 QR Code is on the railings near the front gate for you to scan - coming in OR going out. It doesn’t replace the requirement for us to keep our own record of your attendance at Mass - it’s as well as! If you do leave your phone switched on during Mass, please ensure it is on silent.

Chester Catholic High: Virtual Open Days

This last week saw The Catholic High School’s first Virtual Open Week. Videos were uploaded daily to give an insight to the unique school for future students and their families. The videos can be seen on the school website https://www.christofidelis.org.uk/Virtual-Open-Evening-2020/. Please spread the word to any families with children currently in Year 5 and 6.

Baptisms - "Rule of Six"

Clarification from Bishop Mark that Baptisms DO fall under the "Rule of Six" restrictions. Sorry, folks!

Monday Morning’s Taskforce Meeting Agenda

(1) Reviewing this Sunday Morning
(2) Bishop’s Document on First Holy Communions
(3) Bishop’s Document on Resuming Music at the Mass
(4) Continuing to Brainstorm Christmas 2020.
As ever, full report of this meeting will be on the Blog!

Fire and Evacuation Procedures

In order to comply with Fire Regulations, we will, over the next few weeks, introduce you to our fire safety arrangements which the fire safety team are developing. These arrangements include fire notices (what to do in the event of fire) at strategic points, alarm system and emergency exit points. We will also need to undertake a fire drill at some point before the end of October.

Students Arriving in Chester!

Welcome to Chester and welcome to St Werburgh’s! Obviously we can’t have the normal Freshers Fair and Events that we would love to have - but if you have arrived in Chester and found your way to St Werburgh’s this morning, please stop on after Mass for a brief chat and a chance to get your contact details. The Werbies and CathSoc do need you!! Although we can’t have our traditional large CathSoc get-togethers, we will be meeting in smaller groups and having as much of a programme as is consistent with the lockdown!

Car Parking Sunday Mornings: Priority for Stewards

Please DON’T try to park at church if you are coming for one of the four Sunday Morning Masses. Blue Badges: you can park on the main road, as usual.

SVP Autumn Mass for Elderly and Housebound

Last Sunday 4th October 2.30 pm - and huge thanks to everyone who made this possible. An enormous logistical challenge, as you can imagine, within all the National and Diocesan Covid-19 regulations. Some important voices asked if it was all worthwhile. But I was fairly clear in my own mind, and so were SVP, that it was worth facing those challenges, partly for the sake of the folks we brought to Mass, some of whom had not been outside for six months; and partly because we must try and keep as much of our normal life going as possible - again, always within those non-negotiable Covid-19 Regulations.

Spring Bulbs! Time to Plant!

It’s that time of the year to get those spring bulbs in. The front garden was a riot of colour this year, and we’d love it to be even more colourful next spring, a little sign of hope and joy in these horrible lockdown days. So... Box in the porch if you can all donate a bag of bulbs - all the shops, supermarkets and garden centres have them on sale at present. And Thursday Morning 29th October the big Blub Planting session at 10.00 am! Bring your own kneeler and your own dibber (they can’t touch you for it) and we’ll have a fun morning, all socially distanced, shoving those bulbs into the yielding autumnal loam (Steady on!) Everyone welcome to join us - and everyone invited to donate!

Bishop Mark: Extra Importance of Cribs this Christmas

I know many parishes are starting to think about the preparations for Advent and Christmas. This will certainly be a Christmas celebration unlike any other we have known. However, this may be a time further to develop devotional practices in Christian homes and re-emphasise the meaning of the Christmas Crib. Pope Francis has written beautifully of this custom in his Apostolic Letter "Admirabile Signum" (1st December 2019). The Holy Father writes to encourage, 'the beautiful tradition of preparing the Nativity scene in the days before Christmas, but also the custom of setting it up in the work place, in schools, in hospitals, prisons and town squares... It is my hope that this custom will never be lost and that, wherever it has fallen into disuse, it can be discovered and revived.'

Photo of the Week: Our Infant School in 1883

An extraordinary photo from seven years after the present church was built. St Werburgh’s Infant School, the blackboard giving the date as 21st November 1883 (a Wednesday!) You’ll notice there are 44 boys in the class - and, presumably, an equal number in the Girls’ Class. Geoff Hewson is third from the right on the front row.