Centenary Celebrations

As well as the London Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee,
2012 is the centenary of the purchase of this church!

Bishop Collins bought the church in 1912, his foresight has enabled the present congregation to worship in this beautiful building. The church is going to celebrate this occasion with a year of activities and events but to do this we need to have ideas. If you have any ideas to celebrate the centenary of our church and are willing to put in a bit of time with the organization please email us at centenary@sacredheartng.org.uk.

Update so far ....

Already the first third of the year 2010 is over, and we have a lot to accomplish before we celebrate the Centenary of our parish in 2012. But things are moving along and there is much for us all to get involved in.

The Northern Catholic Calendar for 1913 included a lively account of the dedication of this beautiful building, and we want lots more lively accounts of any parish activities since then. Were you married here? Did you go on an altar boys trip to Holy Island? If you have any photographs they can be scanned and the originals returned to you.

You'll have seen from the Bulletin that some of our young people will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this summer. Normally the Confirmation would be next year, since we had one last year, but if we did that it would be a very small group to be confirmed in 2012 so it seems a better arrangement to have a smallish group preparing for Confirmation this year and a much bigger one in two years time. The Liturgy and Mission group is also giving some thought to how we can best site our Sacred Heart statue to create a prayerful space around it. And we will be having a Parish Mission in September 2012.

Some of the things around the building that have to be looked at have nothing to do with the centenary. For example, many of the kneelers have become separated from their pews, and most of them need re-covering. The carpets are now very worn and stained, and replacing the light bulbs when they fail is a major Health and Safety hazard. So we are looking to deal with these things as a matter of some urgency.

Other things will need a different approach. Most people seemed quite enthusiastic about the proposals that have been displayed on the walls for the last few weeks. The Celtic Cross in the grounds will have engraved on it the names of all the clergy who have served the parish, though the picture on the wall gives a misleading impression of the dimensions of the finished article it won't be as squat as that.

The existing Lectern is starting to make the floor sink around it because it's so heavy (the Altar is heavy too but its weight is better distributed) so something would have to be done about that in any case. The proposed design for the adjustable Lectern will be repeated on a new oak frontal for the Altar and reflect the style of the President's Chair, so that there will be a coherence across the Sanctuary. The Blessed Sacrament chapel will also pick up on this with the wooden reredos to the tabernacle on the east wall, and the designs for the four northern saints in the windows are already being worked on.

Obviously, to do these things will cost money. While we can use our general funds to pay for work to cure damp in a couple of places, and for the lighting, carpeting and pews which are a Health and Safety hazard, we shall have to raise money specifically to pay for the new furnishings and so on.

If every family in the parish agreed to give £1 per week between now and 2012 we would be well on the way to covering all the costs and if everyone who pays income tax agreed to gift-aid their pound the Centenary Planning Committee suggests that that money be given straight to charity. And in addition we will be having such things as special concerts, Summer and Christmas Fairs, perhaps even a jumble sale or car boot sale, which as well as raising even more money will be a lot of fun for everyone to share. The parish that plays together, prays together!