Parish Diary

DECEMBER 2011

Children's Christmas Nativity Play at St John's

The children of St John the Evangelist Church re-enacted the Christmas story on Christmas Day, complete as always with a recent addition to the parish playing the part of Jesus.

NOVEMBER 2011

English Martyrs and St John's Day of Recollection

Parishioners enjoying a Day of Recollection for Advent at Littlemore, run by
Fr Kevin Delaney.

SEPTEMBER 2011

Parish Welcome Weekend

English Martyrs and St John's held their annual Welcome Weekend on 23rd and 24th September, celebrating the diverse range of culture in our communities.

Congratulations to the winners of the competitions held, as follows:

Photographic Competition Winning Entries -
Caption Section

Anne-Marie Bromley

Misbehaving Altar Servers Punished

Andy Robins

Salt and Vinegar Lips

Tony Shields

Photographic Competition Winning Entries -
Landscape Section

Thames Water Scene

Anne-Marie Bromley

After the Harvest

Richard Cutler

The Twelve Apostles

Armelle Belcher

AUGUST 2011

Many thanks to Anne-Marie Bromley for the use of her photos

JULY 2011

Congratulations to Caroline Lazarus and Stephen Doyle on the occasion of their marriage at St John's Church.

Joint parish BBQ for English Martyrs and St John's on 3rd July 2011.

Enjoying the beautiful weather.

Fr David setting the scene for the annual parish tug-of-war.

Fun and games for children of all ages!

 DECEMBER 2010

Nativity Play at St John's on Christmas Day

SVP Feed My Lambs Appeal Charity Auction

A wonderful total of £2169 was raised at the local Charity Auction held at Wallingford Town Hall.  This makes a total collected throughout the year of £8460, helping to save the lives of 241 babies in the Sudan.  

OCTOBER 2010

Parish Day of Recollection at The Carmelite Monastery, Boars Hill

St John's and English Martyrs parishes organised a Parish Day of Recollection which was led by Fr Frowin Reed, a Benedictine monk who helped out in the Pastoral Area over the summer.  The day was well attended, with everyone benefitting from the peaceful surroundings and thought provoking talks given by Fr Frowin.

SEPTEMBER 2010

Pope Benedict XVI Visit to the United Kingdom 2010

A number of parishioners from the parish were lucky enough to receive VIP tickets to attend Westminster Cathedral, Hyde Park and Cofton Park for the Papal Liturgies.  More parishioners attended as part of the Pastoral Area pilgrim group.  Below is a selection of photographs taken.

Papal Prayer Vigil at Hyde Park

The Thames Isis Pastoral Area Pilgrims

The banner carried during the Procession.

Papal Mass at Cofton Park

The Diary of a Pilgrimage

By 4.30am we had all sleepily assembled at our meeting point in Abingdon. After a short prayer for our pilgrim journey by Fr Paul King, the coach trundled off into the early hours for our trip to Cofton Park Birmingham for the Beatification Mass of Cardinal John Newman celebrated by no less a personage than the Pope himself.  We arrived on time, and were advised that it was a ten minute walk from the coach to the park.  An hour later we were actually through the barriers and finding an advantageous spot on which to put up our chairs and make ourselves comfortable in the miserable drizzle that had started as we approached Birmingham.  The drizzle may have been miserable but the crowd were certainly not. An air of celebration pervaded the whole park with choirs and crowd singing lustily and cheering.  Amidst all that, priests, sitting on their fold up chairs, with umbrellas protecting them from the rain, were hearing confessions, with the penitents kneeling on the wet grass, oblivious of their surroundings.   Then suddenly it was nearing 10.00am, mass was due to start, helicopters were hovering overhead and we were all trying to spot the papal helicopter, especially the children who were in a constant state of excitement. Then on the numerous screens we could see the Pope had arrived and lo and behold the sun appeared and the rain stopped. The pope-mobile made its way to the altar with its life-size mosaic of Cardinal Newman. Unfortunately we were too far away to get a close up view of his Holiness, but it didn’t matter, we were waving our flags and cheering with everyone else. Suddenly around 60,000 people were singing Praise to the Holiest in the Height for the entrance procession and the deeply spiritual and moving mass and Beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman began. What a spectacle. Thousands upon thousands of people receiving Holy Communion from priests under papal umbrellas all over the park.    Something that I will always remember ,  during the moments of silence, that was what it was - silence. In the midst of 60,000 people in a park in Birmingham you could hear the birds singing – incredible.
 
Then we had our picnic and incredibly, we bumped into friends from different parts of the country including, sitting a few rows in front of us,  Ian and Ruth Mawdsley from Llandudno who came to our parish last week to talk to us about the Sudan.
 
Tired but happy we made our way back to our coach.  800 coaches but no queuing to get in or out of the park. Whoever organised the coach arrivals and departures deserves a medal. We arrived home even a little earlier than we thought, spiritually stronger, and proud to have been involved in such a wondrous occasion.

Mary Hill, St John the Evangelist Church, Wallingford

Oxfordshire Historic Churches Trust

Ride and Stride Event

Striders and riders were sponsored and welcomed at churches throughout Oxfordshire - here are a few arriving at St John the evangelist Church, Wallingford for refreshments.

SVP Mass for the Sick

The SVP of St John the Evangelist Church organised a special Mass for the Sick on
5th September, followed by tea and cakes.

 JUNE 2010

The candidates from St John's celebrated their First Holy Communion on Sunday 4th July.

APRIL 2010

The St Vincent de Paul Society displays material on their Feed My Lambs Appeal at the Wallingford St Georges Charity Day on Saturday 23rd April, raising £158.69 from generous passers-by.
A big thank you to everyone for their help.

Click here for information on Feed My Lambs

MARCH 2010

Parishioners at St John's raised money for charity by selling soup lunches throughout Lent.

As part of the Parish Lenten Programme at St John's and English Martyrs Churches, the Youth Group ran a Cake, Create and Play event for the younger members of the parish.

The children enjoyed making wooden crosses, talking about the Stations of the Cross, singing and decorating cakes.

Click here for St John's parish diary 2009