St Aelred’s Parish Groups Back to Home
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Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
The Blessed Sacrament is exposed in a side chapel
between 8.00am and 10pm each weekday.
Any member of the community is able to call into the church and join
in adoration. Adoration began in 1993
and involves not only our Parishioners but those from neighbouring churches. There are approximately eighty people who
currently offer an hour or more each week on a rota basis, so that adoration
of the Blessed Sacrament might remain at the heart of the parish's weekly
activity. May God continue to bless us with this
gift. Altar Service This service can be offered by any young person
in the parish who has made his or her First Holy Communion. The servers support the parish priest at
the celebration of Holy Mass. They
also offer their support on feast days.
New servers are offered basic training before they serve at a Mass.
Rev David Arblaster 560279. Banner Group The Banner Group has been meeting for more than
ten years, and have made banners for all liturgical seasons. The liturgical banners hang on either side
of the altar, and for each set there is a co-ordinating altar cloth. A variety of materials and media are used
in making the banners. We welcome
newcomers and new ideas. News of
future projects will appear in the bulletin. Brownies Brownies meet every
Wednesday during term-time in the church hall from 6pm - 7.15pm. The meetings are for girls aged between 7
and 10 years old. During the meetings
the Brownies learn new skills, make new friends and have fun. CAFOD The Catholic Fund for Overseas Development is the
response of the Bishops of England and Wales to the growing need of people in
the Third World. CAFOD has two family
fast day collections in all parishes, one during Lent and the other in
October. Aelred’s group seeks to
support the work of the national organisation and to raise awareness of the
many needs of our brothers and sisters throughout the world. Each year a campaign is launched to raise
funds for a variety of long-term projects.
We try to raise at least £2,000 a year. Prayer and raising awareness of the many injustices, that
affect the lives of so many people throughout our world, are our main aims;
raising money, while important, is secondary. As a group, we organise a Traidcraft stall, selling fairly
traded goods after each Mass once every two months, and also a Christmas card
campaign for prisoners of conscience on behalf of Amnesty International. We meet five or six times a year and
welcome anyone who would like to be involved. Children's Liturgy During
the Sunday 10am Mass in term-time, we hold a liturgy for children between the
ages of 4 and 11. We normally divide
the children into two groups, 4-7 year-olds, and 8-11 year-olds. Each
group is led by two or more catechists who prepare and lead the liturgy on a
rota basis. The children are invited
to the liturgy at the beginning of Mass and go out of church with the
catechists, either into the hall or the meeting room. They return to the church in time for the
Offertory. We welcome new catechists
and offer help with training. Choir (Folk)
The
Folk Choir celebrates on alternate Saturdays at the 6.30pm Vigil Mass and
Sunday 10am Mass at Christmas and Easter.
Our music is based on the Scriptures for that particular day, which we
read and discuss before selecting appropriate hymns. The players include keyboard, violin,
flute and guitars and a choir of singers, who lead the congregation. We welcome anyone interested in joining us
and we meet for practice every Thursday evening at 7.30pm, usually in one of
our homes. Choir (Traditional) St
Aelred’s Choir is small but enthusiastic when it comes to providing music for
the Mass. We hope that by our lead
the congregation will be encouraged to join in singing the praises of
God. We look for new members, old or
young, to ensure that the choir and its music continue at St Aelred's. Accompanied by the organ, the hymns and
Mass settings chosen reflect the liturgy of the day. We lead the congregation in song on each
Sunday at the 10am Mass, at the Christmas Midnight Mass the Easter Triduum
and on Holy Days of Obligation. When
requested, we sing at weddings and funerals.
We meet regularly and would be only too pleased to see new
members. “To sing is to pray twice”. Church Cleaning Church cleaners work on a rota basis, cleaning
the inside of the church - not including windows or walls - and spend 1-2 hours
per their session which occurs about 5 times per year. There are currently around twenty-three
cleaners. New brooms are always
welcome. Churches Together St Aelred’s belongs to Starbeck and Woodlands
Churches Together. There are
currently five churches in the group: Christ Church (C of E); St Andrews (C
of E); Starbeck Methodist; Woodlands Methodist and St Aelred’s. These groups belong to the umbrella
organisation: Churches Together in Harrogate. Churches Together is an ecumenical group, working towards
greater Christian unity and understanding.
Every year we plan Lenten and Advent groups and days of
reflection. We carry a cross together
through the area on Good Friday as a Christian witness. In recent years we have produced a joint
Christmas card. Other events may take
place with an ecumenical theme. There
are planning meetings three or four times a year. Many parishioners attend events. All are welcome. Coffee Rota The St Aelred’s ‘Coffee’ group provides coffee,
tea and biscuits in the church hall after the 10am Mass on Sunday. Everyone is welcome for a drink and
chat. There are currently eleven
teams of two people offering this service and each pair is generally asked to
provide these refreshments five times per year. The time commitment on each occasion is approximately two
hours. No skills required above the
ability to plug in the water boiler!
All new teams welcomed. |
Friendship Group This recently formed Group offers a warm welcome to
anyone who wants to broaden their social circle or is new to the area.
Meetings are held monthly on the third Wednesday from 1.45 to 3.15pm in
St Aelred's Church Hall. Speakers talk on a range of general topics of
interest to men and women of all ages and there is also tea and chat and
more. Finance Committee Canon Law requires that a parish should have a
Finance Committee. At St Aelred’s
there are normally four committee members: Finance Secretary, Collections
Co-ordinator, Gift Aid co-coordinator and Accounts Liaison Officer, plus the
serving chair of the Parish Council.
The four committee members are invited to the position by the parish
priest. The team is responsible to
the parish and the diocese for the management of the parish accounts. Flowers The church flowers are bought and arranged each
week (apart from the weeks of Lent and Advent) on a rota basis by a group of
five parishioners. Anybody who would
like to join us on a regular or occasional basis is very welcome. Hospital Chaplaincy St Aelred's parish provides the Catholic chaplain
for the Harrogate District Hospital.
Fr Jim relies on messages from patient's family and friends informing
him of their presence and location in the hospital. To assist Fr Jim in this ministry there is a lay
chaplaincy team drawn from St Aelred's and St Robert's parishes. Most of these visitors are Eucharistic
ministers and, working singly or in pairs we visit one area - typically 4 to
6 wards - of the hospital every three or four weeks on a rota basis. Because we visit only a part of the
hospital we each see relatively few patients and so are able to spend time
with those, especially the elderly, who often just want to talk to someone. Keep Fit In the church hall generally during term-time:
Mondays 7.30-9pm for ladies over 16, with a KFA qualified instructor. Tuesdays 9.30-10.30am, gentle exercises to
cassette music for the over-50s. Luncheon Club The
luncheon club has been running since July 1995 and provides a monthly lunch,
at low cost, open to any adult members of the Harrogate community. Our ethos is to provide a relaxed
environment where food and friendship can be enjoyed. All are made welcome. Our menu is printed in the bulletin. The Club runs on the second Friday of the
month, serving from 12-2pm. A booking
form is at the back of church. Offertory
Counters
There is a group of
approximately twelve ‘Money Counters’ divided into pairs on a six-week rota
and who count all monies taken in the Church. “Counting” entails counting and recording parish monies
according to a set procedure, the process taking about an hour per
session. Most counters count on
Sunday after the 5pm Mass. This is a
nice, quiet, behind-the-scenes job for anyone wishing to help in the parish
or to act as ‘reserves’ when others are away. Parish Garden Maintenance About six families
maintain the flower beds and hedges in the grounds of the church and
presbytery. The grass-cutting is done
fortnightly by contractors. New green
fingers always welcome. Parish Pastoral Council The Parish Pastoral Council exists to advise the
parish priest and assist him in the pastoral care and general maintenance of
the parish. Members have a
responsibility for effective communication between the people of the
parish. The Council generally meets
on the first Thursday of every alternate month. Members of the Council are normally elected to serve for a
three-year term, and are instrumental in developing the life of the parish in
a variety of ways. All confirmed
members of the parish who are on the
parish register, are eligible to take part in the election. Renewal Group St Aelred’s Renewal Group (STAR) seeks to
contribute to the spiritual and pastoral care of ministries and adults in our
parish and to help make the parish community aware of faith-development
events held in the diocese. STAR also
tries to support people involved in parish ministries through Training Days
and Days of Reflection. Membership is
open to anyone in the parish. Resource Centre "Come and See" is the Diocesan
initiative aimed at providing media resources (books, CDs, DVDs etc) for use
by Parishioners. It has replaced the
parish library which came into being in 1993. We have a wide range of
material available and are open to requests and suggestions from
parish groups and individuals for new items.
The Resource Centre is freely open for use at the back of the
church. We rely on parishioners to
return material within a fortnight and so respect the needs of other
borrowers. Repository St Aelred’s Repository is open after every Sunday
Mass, both morning and evening, and alternate Saturdays after the vigil
Mass. It stocks a range of cards,
prayer books and other small items.
At special times items can be ordered, for example for 1st Holy
Communion. SVP The St Vincent de Paul Society in England and Wales makes over 3000 visits daily to the aged, the lonely, the sick and the deprived, at home, in hospital or in prison. St Aelred’s has a small, dedicated team who carry out locally the work of the Society. We are twinned with the Holy Cross Parish in Karamoodu Vellarada in Southern India, for whom we raise funds. We welcome new members. If you can spare an hour or two weekly, or even monthly, please make yourself known to us. There is a collection box at the back of the Church, where you can make donations. Transport
Volunteers are
often needed to befriend and provide transport to and from Mass for elderly
or visually impaired Parishioners.
Term-time transport is
organised on a rota basis. Youth Music Group St Aelred’s Youth Music group have a range of
musical instruments, the majority woodwind, and some strings. We are always looking for new youth
members, singers as well as players. 200 Club The 200 Club is a fund-raising enterprise,
involving a monthly cash prize draw and two major draws every six
months. Maximum membership is 200;
there are currently about 140. Funds
raised are shared between the parish and St Robert’s School. Our typical income is about £3000 per
annum, of which just over half is returned in prizes. |
