We had a special and moving service of Remembrance at St Michael’s this morning. It was a pleasure to welcome Pastor Carola Scherf from the German Lutheran church today who took part in the service. A big thank you to all those who made the event run so smoothly.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Photos by John Lambton:
Join us for our services of Remembrance this Sunday 8th November at 8.30am – Eucharist, 10.15am – Remembrance Sunday service with laying of wreaths at the cenotaph at 11.00am and Remembrance Sunday Evensong at 6.00pm.
Here is a short film from the Church of England based on an extract of Laurence Binyon’s poem “For the Fallen”, commemorating Remembrance Day 2015 on 11 November:
This year’s Houghton Feast weekend was wonderful. We began with the opening ceremony on Friday night at which our very own Gilpin Singers choir sang two numbers:
Then on Saturday we had our craft and produce market welcoming some new traders – the Northumberland Sausage company went down very well! This was our most successful market yet so a big thank you to all who helped to make it run so smoothly and to those of you who came along:
And a first for us this year, we sold copies of our first CD, Houghton through the Seasons featuring our liturgical choir, the Gilpin Singers, our Music Group and our Hand-bell ringers. Copies are available to buy for £10:
On Sunday we had our Houghton Feast Civic Service at which we welcomed the Ven Peter Robinson, Archdeacon of Lindisfarne as our preacher followed by our famous Feast lunch in the Kepier Hall.
On Sunday evening we held our Community Hymn Singing Service which this year celebrated the work of Christians in Houghton-le-Spring. We were each encouraged to write on a small cut out of a person how we help in our community and put them all together on a board – it was moving to see how much people do in this area to serve others and share the love of Christ:
A huge thank you to the Next 900 Team, Anne Goodman and Stan Morson from the Kepier Hall, Carole Cunningham, Christine Britcliffe and all the volunteers who made this year’s celebrations such a success. Don’t forget to come along to our music concert this Thursday night at 7.30pm and our Ceilidh on Friday 9th October at 7.30pm.
We are looking forward to once again being at the centre of the ancient ‘Houghton Feast‘ of Michaelmas in 2015. Brochures are available at the back of church or on the Houghton Feast website. Looking forward to seeing you at our events – don’t forget to bag your exclusive bottles of Gilpin and Apostle Ale at our craft market on Saturday!
These are the events taking place at the church:
Saturday 3rd October
10.00am Craft and Produce Market
Sunday 4th October
10.30am Feast Civic Service
6.00pm Feast Community Hymn Singing
Thursday 8th October
7.30pm Piano Concert – William Bracken – Master Musicians International
Friday 9th October
7.30pm Ceilidh
This year’s Next 900 Event is a Feast Ceilidh on Friday 9th October at 7.30pm. Dance the night away in church! Tickets available from John Lambton for £12 (under 12s £5).
Enjoy a live ceilidh band, ploughman’s supper, licensed bar and raffle.
Recharge is a new event for young people (year 6-11) starting this term at St Michael’s. We will meet on the third Sunday of the month at church at 11.30am for half an hour to ‘recharge’ with God and try out different types of prayer and spirituality together through a great new book called ‘The Teenage Prayer Experiment Notebook’ by Miranda Threlfall-Holmes and her son Noah. The first session took place on Sunday 20th September and we tried out our Prayer Labyrinth.
Walking the prayer labyrinth.
As it’s an experiment this was the group’s verdict:
We gave the labyrinth 8/10 as an experience. Here are some of the things the young people said it made them feel:
“I felt God helping me as I walked”
“I liked the twists and turns”
“I liked that it felt like a journey “
“I liked the concept and the silence”
Know any teenagers that need their batteries recharging? Bring them along on the third Sunday of the month at 11.30am.
Dates for this term are:
On Wednesday 9th September 2015, after a lifetime of devoted public service, Queen Elizabeth II will pass the record of longest reigning British Monarch set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria. We will be holding a short service offering prayers of thanksgiving at 6pm on Wednesday 9th September at St Michael’s.
We’re having our Leaky Roof fixed and this means that unfortunately we have to close to day visitors (between 11am-1pm) from 17th August for 8 weeks. MOST SERVICES WILL NOT BE AFFECTED but keep an eye out here for notices.
This weekend our young people joined over 50 others from around the diocese at the very first Youth Invasion Camp at Auckland Castle. The young people camped in the grounds and enjoyed a full weekend of activities on the theme of Celebrating Difference including circus skills (led by our very own curate), martial arts, disaster management (ask the kids!), a nature trail and a treasure hunt as well as leading worship themselves. Our group won the tent decorating competition with a fabulous flag they designed themselves (see below).
It is hoped that this will become an annual event and Bryony and Clare are looking forward to next year’s camp already – we hope the kids are too!
Many thanks to the camp organisers from Shildon Parish, especially youth leader Naomi Tomlinson and to Alison Tweddle from Auckland Castle for making this happen.
The girls won the tent decorating competition with this flag!
We are delighted to invite you to walk the prayer labyrinth which can be found in the church yard of St Michael and All Angels just near the archway. This is an initiative brought to you by Churches Together in Houghton and for each Saturday morning in July volunteers will be on hand to guide you. We are offering this as an opportunity to connect with God in a different way – why not give it a try? – children are welcome too. Let us know how you found the experience!
What’s a Prayer Labyrinth?
You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy. (Psalm 16.11)
A labyrinth consists of a single path that twists and curves and turns to a central point; from this central point the same path is followed to arrive at the entrance again. There are no tricks to a labyrinth and it is impossible to ‘get lost’ in it or ‘go wrong’ on it. The labyrinth pattern is found in almost every human civilization from prehistoric times to the present day and it is echoed in nature – it is a universal pattern which resonates in our subconscious as well as our conscious mind.
Labyrinths have been used in churches from AD400 and Chartres cathedral houses the most famous example, dating from 1194. Walking the labyrinth can help us to reflect, pray, to listen to what God is saying to us. Its twisting pathway echoes the pattern of our thoughts and calms our physical selves so that we are able to explore more easily our spirituality and our relationship with God. There is no right or wrong way to walk a labyrinth, just be open to whatever happens as you walk it.
We hope you will join us as we walk, but it is up to each individual to choose whether to walk the labyrinth or not; witnessing others walk is just as valid and experience and can be equally powerful.
