Dear Friends
The Rector’s letter for January is always written before Christmas, so it is in the February Signpost that I can tell you about some of the exciting events taking place at St Michael’s in 2012. Don’t forget to put them in your diary now!
The first weekend in March sees our second Bernard Gilpin weekend. On Saturday 3 March we will be holding a Fun Day in Church discovering more about Bernard Gilpin and life in Tudor England. The day will include cookery demonstrations, story telling, music, dance and thinks to make.
The day will end with a special concert of music and readings organised by the Royal School of Church Music to celebrate Bernard Gilpin.
On Sunday 4 March we welcome the Vicar of Kentmere (Gilpin’s home parish in Cumbria) as our guest preacher at our Bernard Gilpin Service, this will be followed by lunch in the Kepier Hall.
On Passion Sunday 25 March at 6pm the Choir and soloists will be singing exerts from Handel’s Messiah. If you fancy having a go at singing this well known piece of music, please speak to George Peebles or check the Weekly Sheets for rehearsal details. Everyone is welcome to come and sing!
Good Friday 6 April brings one of our most exciting events this year: The Houghton le Spring Passion. This is a musical adaption of the Stations of the Cross by Stuart Clappison and Andy Slater, which will be familiar to many of you as it is usually performed in Church most Good Fridays. But this year we are going BIG and performing it out of doors up at The Old Cemetery at 11am. This performance will include performers from Zazz Drama academy, Houghton Kepier School, St Michael’s Easington Lane and from St Michael’s Houghton. We hope that this will be an exciting opportunity to share the Passion story with the people of the area in an accessible and innovative way. This will be a free event and no tickets will be needed, just come along and walk with Christ on his last journey.
We are looking for lots of volunteers to be involved with the production including driving the mini bus shuttle (to get people up to the Old Cemetery), stewards, prop team, technical team and publicity team. So if you would like to be involved please contact me 584 3487 as soon as possible. I hope everyone will want to contribute in some way.
On Saturday 12 May the RSCM will be holding its annual Festival at Hexham Abbey so we are proposing to have a coach trip to Hexham finishing with enjoying the Festival Service in the Abbey. It will be a lovely opportunity to enjoy Hexham and support our choir as they sing at the Festival.
The first weekend in June is the main celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and we shall be joining in with a Special Service on Sunday 3 June followed by a 1950’s style Garden Party including traditional games for young and old.
On Saturday 7 July we will be having a Parish Pilgrimage to Lindisfarne. We will go by coach up to Holy Island when you can either walk across the sands to the island or continue by coach, followed by a Eucharist and free time, returning home via fish and chips in Seahouses. Book early to avoid disappointment.
I am delighted to tell you that the preacher on Houghton Feast Sunday will be the new Bishop of Durham The Rt Rev Justin Welby. Details nearer the time.
Other regular events will be going on as usual, please keep an eye on the Signpost and Weekly Sheets.
On a less exciting but. No less important note we will be having work done to replace the boiler and improve the heating in church. We are still at the planning stage and will keep you informed of developments. As I write this the cost is likely to be around £40,000 with some coming from reserves, the Boiler Fund and fundraising.
Helping you to keep an eye on all that is happening at St Michael’s will be our new website which we hope will “go live” in February. We are keeping the same address www.stmichaels-hls.org.uk but will have a new look. Our old site badly needed up dating so we enter a new year with a new look. My thanks to Dave Fulton for all his hard work with the old site. All articles, photos etc for the new website should be sent to the Parish Office or to me.
So 2012 is going to be another busy year at St Michael’s! I believe our desire to engage with the community, proclaim the faith in ways new and old and have fun are signs of a vibrant and witnessing church.
May God bless us in all that we do in His Name in 2012.
The Rector