Sunday Bulletin and Mass Intentions
The Sacred Heart R.C. Church
Queens Avenue, Tunstall, ST6 6EE
sacredheart.tunstall@rcaob.org.uk
Saint Joseph’s R.C. Church
Hall Street, Burslem, ST6 4BB
Parish Priest: Fr. R. K. George pp.sacredheart.tunstall@rcaob.org.uk
Parish Secretariat: Carol Critchlow
Office hours: Wed, Thurs, and Fri 10 am to 2 pm
13 Queen’s Avenue, Tunstall, ST6 6EE
01782 838357
www.parishclustersacredheartstjoseph.org.uk
The Parish operates in accordance with Statutory Safeguarding Guidance and the National and Archdioceses policies & procedures at all times. Our Parish Safeguarding Representatives are Kathryn Barnett and Ellen Churchill. They can be contacted at: sg.sacredheart.tunstall@rcaob.org.uk and sg.stjoseph.burslem@rcaob.org.uk or alternatively the Diocesan Safeguarding team can be contacted on 0121 230 6240/ safeguarding@rcaob.org.uk if you have any concern.
Church Calendar
16th Nov Film and Christmas Buffet St Joseph’s*
19th Nov Funeral Sacred Heart 10am
24th Nov Family Mass Sacred Heart
24th Nov Catholic Youth Services Second Collection
26th Nov 10.30am Blessing at Tunstall Cemetery
28th Nov 10.30am Blessing at Burslem Cemetery
7th Dec Sacred Heart Christmas Party*
7th Dec Family Mass St Joseph’s
8th Dec Poor Parishes Second Collection
* Additional information in the bulletin
Weekday Masses at Sacred Heart, with the exception of Masses where we are joined by the schools, will be held in the Chapel. Enter via the back entrance of the church.
November Cemetery Visit
Fr George will be visiting Tunstall Cemetery on Tuesday 26th November at 10.30 am and Burslem Cemetery on 28th November 10.30 am.
Please Pray for the Repose of the Souls of our departed family members and parishioners, especially: Doreen Bradbury, Margaret Jones, Jean Harding, Angela Dudley Mary Woolrich, Julia Cumberlidge, Stanley Deakin, Kenneth Holmes, John Thompson, Sarah Margaret Mary McGreevy, Andrew Hall, Vincent McNicholas and those whose anniversaries occur at this time. May their souls rest in peace. Amen.
Pope’s Prayer Intention for November 2024
For a anyone who has lost a child We pray that all parents who mourn the loss of a son or daughter find support in their community and receive peace and consolation from the Holy Spirit.
Hospital Chaplaincy Team
The Royal Stoke Chaplaincy team can be reached on 01782 676400. You will need to specify that it is the Catholic Chaplain that you want.
RCIA
Are you an adult interested in being baptised or received into the Catholic Church? Please contact the Parish Office for more information.
Confessions
Sacred Heart
Friday 10.00 am – 10.30 am (During Adoration)
Sunday 10.00 am – 10.20 am
St Joseph’s
Wednesday 5.00 pm – 5.50 pm (During Adoration)
Saturday 4.30 pm - 4.50 pm
Eucharistic Adoration and Rosary
Sacred Heart
Friday 10.00 am – 10.30 am
St Joseph’s
Wednesday 5.00 pm – 6.00 pm
Children at Mass
We are running an attendance competition at both churches for all the under 16 year olds. All children please remember to write your names each week in the book at the back of church. Prizes will be handed out at the CHRISTMAS VIGIL Mass
Potto Lotto All money raised through the Potto Lotto is going towards Sacred Heart Presbytery running costs. Remember to nominate Sacred Heart, Tunstall so we receive 50p of every £ donated.
St Joseph’s Car Park
The car park at the back of St Joseph’s, accessed via Pack Horse Lane (ST6 4BA), will be open for the Saturday Mass from 4pm to 6.30pm.
Parish foodbank
The Parish foodbank is open on Tuesdays 11am to 2pm, no referral required.
All Readers
Bidding prayers are now available on the website.
New Deanery website
https://northstaffordshire-catholicdeanery.org.uk/ The deanery now has a new website where you can find information on local churches and their mass times, priests, newsletters etc.
Mass Intentions We have received a lot of mass intentions and spaces are filling up quickly. All future booked Masses can be seen on the new website, on the same page as the bulletin. Bookings are entered in the order they arrive on the office desk. If you have booked a mass and don’t see it on the website, please contact the office.
New Lectionary Advent 2024
All Catholic Churches in the UK will be changing to a new Lectionary starting from the First Sunday Advent 2024. Both Churches will need copies.
Remembrance Day at St Joseph's Holy Mass on November 9th, a list of fallen armed forces personnel from the parish will be read out. It will be followed by The Last Post and a wreath will be presented. If you have any family members who were casualties of either the first or second world wars, or other conflicts, and you would like them included on the list then please see one of the Stewards.
St Joseph's Film Night and Christmas Buffet Saturday November 16th. Cost is £6.00 per person (Adults only) and will include drinks. Buffet is served at 6.30pm followed by the movie The Nativity. BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL. Please see one of the Stewards and provide your Name, phone number and any dietry information, (e.g Gluten Free, Vegetarian) along with your payment.
Thank you
Thank you to everyone involved and supports the tea and coffee mornings at Sacred Heart £200 has been raised.
November Dead List
Envelopes are available at the back of church so that you can add names to our November Dead List. Please enclose a piece of paper with the names of deceased family and friends, with a donation if you wish. Please only include names of deceased people. Every year names of living past priests have been included and I am not to add those names to the list.
Thank you
Thank you to everyone who helped with tidying up the church garden at Sacred Heart.
Baptism and Marriage
If you are interested in either of these sacraments, please note we require evidence of practice. Attendance cards are now available at the back of church.
Parish foodbank Many thanks to all those who have donated food and money to support the food bank over the past 3 years. At the moment our stocks are running very low. We feed approximately 40 people per week. Please consider bringing 1 non-perishable food item each week and depositing it in the basket which is located in the foyer of both Churches. Thank You
A BIG Thank You to all who have supported any of the St Joseph's Centenary fundraising events, film nights, car boot sales, tombola's, raffles, and Southport day trip. We have lots more events planned to which you are all most welcome to attend. Watch this space.
Any Experts? Does anyone have expertise in the following: Scaffolding, Tree felling, Building Maintenance, Painting and decorating? Please let any of the Stewards at St Joseph's know, Thank You.
Parish Cluster Pastoral Committee Meeting
At the back of church there are copies of the handout given out at the Deanery Forum. The handout shows how the Deanery will be split into missions. Our cluster is in mission 1.
One of the overriding issues we face as parishes, clusters and a deanery is the continually falling numbers attending mass and then the even fewer who get involved and help. St Joseph’s have a very hard-working team of volunteers, who are doing exceedingly well preparing for the centenary celebrations, but we need more.
One of the ways we are looking at increasing numbers is the introduction of a minimum attendance before sacraments (except funerals) can be booked. Before anyone can get their child Baptised, get married, have First Holy Communion or Confirmation, they have to have a minimum of 12 weeks attendance. The primary schools are supporting our decision. Both churches should have a pile of attendance cards, if either church is running low, please let the office know. These cards are to be filled out each week they attend. They do not need to turn up every week, but we want them to have attended 12 times before booking anything. During these 12 visits we need to encourage participation, be welcoming and hopefully when they complete the sacrament they will continue to attend.
Using St Joseph’s as inspiration, Sacred Heart is looking at events that can bring the parish together. After a lot of discussion, Sacred Heart will be organising a Christmas party on Saturday 7th December. We want as many people involved with the organising and preparation as possible not just our normal volunteers. If you are reading this and you have not been approached to help WE NEED YOUR HELP. There will be plenty of jobs before, during and after the party. We will also be asking for donations. There will be a planning meeting after mass on the 10th November – Everyone is welcome.
Appeal for the Churches
Sacred Heart, Tunstall
Tea and Coffee mornings after mass. Could you spare some time to help prepare tea and coffee after mass. It is a great opportunity to socialise after Mass and for us all to get to know one another.
Could you spare some time to help with the gardening?
Sacred Heart and St Joseph’s
Are you a driver, with access to a car that regularly comes to mass? Would you be willing to take communion to housebound and ill parishioners (subject to successful DBS check and training)?
Fundraising – both Churches require funds. If you have any ideas and are willing to help on any of our fundraising opportunities, please let us know. Both churches are trying raffles, tombola’s, car boot sales, day trips and anything else we can think of. For these to work, we need volunteers to help organise, donations of items we can use and parishioners willing to play and spend. Please do support as many of these initiatives as possible.
New Lectionary’s
Thank you to our very kind parishioners who have agreed to sponsor the New Lectionary’s at Sacred Heart, Tunstall and St Joseph’s, Burslem. We have been able to cover the entire cost.
“Volunteers aren’t free, they are priceless!”
Deanery and Diocese News
Pilgrimage to Lourdes
Every year, hundreds of pilgrims from across the Archdiocese of Birmingham join together for the Lourdes Pilgrimage. 2025 is the Year of Jubilee and Archbishop Bernard invites you to come with us on this very special occasion in the life of the Archdiocese: “It’s a great experience to be together with upwards of 700 fellow pilgrims.” The pilgrimage dates have been announced: Saturday 24 – Friday 30 May 2025, and you can now express your interest in a place or get more information by visiting www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk/lourdes.
Job Vacancy
The Archdiocese of Birmingham invite applications for the new CEO of the first enlarged Catholic Multi-Academy Trust in the Archdiocese. This is an incredibly exciting opportunity to commence Easter 2025, or earlier. We are looking for an outstanding, dynamic, innovative and visionary Catholic servant leader to lead this new Trust of 63 schools by example and with wisdom. The successful candidate will bring hope and optimism to the role, providing strategic direction and educational leadership to support our schools in facing the future. For further details, please visit the Diocesan Education Service website: CEO Vacancy. The closing date is 25th November, 2024
CAFOD Middle East Humanitarian Appeal
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) are launching an emergency appeal in response to the worsening crisis that we see in the Holy Land. CAFOD are pleased that the scale of the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East has been recognised and it plays an important role in how the Catholic community responds to this. Thanks to the support of the Catholic Community here in England and Wales, CAFOD have been supporting partners providing essential and life-saving responses to the huge need in Gaza to many thousands of people over the last year and have been able to allocate £60,000 out of core funds to Lebanon partners to support their immediate response. “Our Church partners have been clear that with more funds, they can do more to meet the desperate needs and provide essential items to their communities.” As a parish we will not be having a specific collection for the disaster appeal but if you would like to donate please visit the CAFOD website.
World Day of the Poor
17 November 2024 ‘The prayer of the poor rises up to God’ (cf. Sir 21:5) The Pope’s message for the 8th World Day of the Poor invites us to ‘be friends of the poor, following in the footsteps of Jesus’. Parishes are encouraged to use this opportunity to reflect on the needs in our local communities, and how we are reaching out with spiritual and material support. Please visit: www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/poveri/documents/20240613 -messaggioviii-giornatamondiale-poveri-2024.html
Petition Against Assisted Suicide
The CBCEW website has been updated with a raft of resources for parishioners to be informed regarding the assisted suicide legislation that is currently working its way through Parliament. Please encourage our parishioners to write to their MPs either directly or via the link found on the CBCEW Website – https://www.cbcew.org.uk/opposingassisted-suicide/
Encyclical Letter from the Holy Father
Dilexit Nos The fourth Encyclical Letter of Pope Francis’s pontificate Dilexit Nos – “He has loved us” on the human and divine love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, has just been published. The Holy Father describes his letter as bringing together precious reflections of previous magisterial texts and a long history that goes back to the Sacred Scriptures to re-propose to the whole Church, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Pope Francis has written this Encyclical Letter amid the 350th anniversary celebrations of the apparitions to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. An introduction by Bishop Mark Davies on the Bishops’ Conference website can be accessed by this link: https://www.cbcew.org.uk/bishop-davies-dilexit-nos/
Thank you!
One Stop Shop Packmoor
Thank you to the One Stop Shop Packmoor, for their very kind donation of Easter Eggs for all the Parish children.
This Parish is part of the Archdiocese of Birmingham. Registered Charity 235216.
Booked Mass Intentions for Sacred Heart and St Joseph's
As of the 15th November, here are all the booked Mass Intentions coming up.
If you know you have booked a Mass and it is not showing please do contact the parish office.
If masses are cancelled, the mass intention will be moved to the first available mass at your chosen church
There are no mass intentions left available for November. December is filling up very quickly
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