St Joseph and the English Martyrs
3 Windhill, Bishop's Stortford,
Herts CM23 2ND
Telephone: 01279 654063
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Welcome to our Parish website
Welcome to the website of St Joseph and the English Martyrs.
Our church is situated in the Hertfordshire Market town of
Bishop's Stortford and is part of the Diocese of Westminster. What's on
16 June - Canon Eddie's 50th Anniversary of Ordination Quick Links
PARISH AGM:Canon Eddie is most keen that his successor should have the benefit of the experience and knowledge of his parishioners readily available to him. Accordingly, he warmly invites you to stand for election to the Parish Pastoral Council which serves to assist our parish priest by providing opportunities for the promotion of Christian Formation, assistance with the delivery of the Liturgy, and the organisation of Social events for fellow parishioners. Nomination Forms are available both on the website and in the Information Area for completion and return to No 3 by 17 June. Elections will take place at the Parish AGM on 24th June at 4pm. If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact the Chair of the PPC, Tony Moylan 651453. Download copy of Nomination form Here Update of Fundraising Appeal for New Parish Centre (pdf). Information about the Parish Pastoral Council Download the Parish Pastoral Council Constitution (pdf). Saint of the Day Today's Readings Daily Prayer Vocations information page |
News
Carry a Faith Card A card to communicate that the carrier is a baptised Catholic, the initiative of the Department for Evangelisation and Catechesis of the Catholic Church, is available in the information area at the back of the church. For more information: www.catholicnews.org.uk This Sunday, 29
April, Good Shepherd Sunday and the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, there will be a collection
for the Priest Training Fund in SVP Coffee Morning: Tuesday, 1 May, 10.00am - 11.30am in the Parish Centre - coffee/tea/cake and company. All are welcome. Wednesday Evening Group - Our next meeting is on 2 May in the
Parish Centre at 7.30.p.m. Margaret Rogers will be talking about 'Beautiful
places in the 12.00 noon on Saturday 5th May, there will be a Mass for those who
support family life with an opportunity for married couples to renew
their vows. In the present climate when marriage and family life is being
undervalued it is important we pray together for a true recognition of the
importance of the family. Churches Together - Youth
Café Project There
will be a meeting in the Charis Centre on Sunday 6 May at 1pm about the
initiative to open a youth café in the Motorworld premises (on the corner of Christian Aid Week: 13 - 19 May. We are looking for some 30 volunteers to help
with the annual door-to-door collection for Christian Aid. Please consider
whether you/your family/friends could spare some time for this & sign up on
the yellow list at the back of the church.
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Thoughts from No 3 by Canon Eddie Our Parish Worship: a personal view Canon Eddie Matthews 1. Introduction I am a cradle Catholic, born into a committed Roman Catholic family; and my first experience of the Church was in that family, through its ethos and daily devotional practices. But my first conscious memories of the Church are of its liturgy, its worship; first of all at Christ the King church, Cockfosters (a very faint memory because I would have been barely age 2 at the time), and then at the church of the Sacred Heart, Exeter, where I made my First Confession and Communion and learned to serve Mass. No surprise that the liturgy should feature in my memory because it is the heart of the Church’s life: without its liturgy there would be no Church. My life as an ordained priest is to activate and lead that liturgy for the community of St Joseph and the English Martyrs in Bishop’s Stortford. Although being a parish priest entails a whole kaleidoscope of different tasks and responsibilities, celebrating the liturgy with my brothers and sisters in the faith is the one essential activity which makes sense of the ministerial/ordained priesthood, as well as the priesthood of the baptised, as we will see later. In 2008 our parish conducted a fact-finding exercise which we named Parish Liturgy Audit. The aim was to discover what parishioners really thought about the liturgy of St Joseph’s. The results (see elsewhere on the parish website for the details) have already led us to make some changes in the way we do things (for instance, I have tried to cut down the length of my homily), and provide us with an on-going agenda for the future. Part of that agenda is further formation in the meaning and understanding of the liturgy, and this series of pieces is a contribution to that formation. It is in no way intended to be exhaustive but simply reflections on the Church’s liturgy in the context of this parish. At the time of writing, I have no idea how long these reflections will be. After an initial examination of what liturgy is all about, I will go on to take a look at the Mass. After that – well, my guess is as good as yours. My aim is to produce a fresh piece each week, but that may not always be possible. I hope you will find this interesting and helpful. If it helps some people to play a more conscious, active and prayerful part in the liturgy of the Church, I shall be satisfied.
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