St Hilda's Church

Services in the Shared Church

St Martin & St Hilda

Fleetwood Road Carleton

SUNDAY 11 am Family Communion

SUNDAY SCHOOL 11 am in St Hilda’s School

WEDNESDAY 11 am Holy Communion

NOTICE BOARD

Toddler Group - each Mon. & Wed. 10 - 11.30 am. All welcome.

Needlework Group - meetings are held on the second Monday of the month from 2-4pm.

Sunday School - each Sunday from 11am, for children from 3yrs. Parents may stay if they wish.

DOWN YOUR WAY: During the next few weeks there must be events occurring in the parish which you would like to advertise to a wider audience. If you would like me to include them in the news sheet please e-mail the information to ann.mccarthy@onetel.com or ring me on 886143. Our rates are very reasonable — gratis!

THOUGHTS FROM CARLETON

For all who are of a sporting bent (and I think that that will include 75% of our population who must be interested in some aspect of sport whether by watching, reading or participating), August was a splendid month.

Cricket had its usual variety of games at every level – when the weather permitted – club cricket, county cricket, test matches against those most feisty opponents, South Africa and a series of one day internationals against the same opponents to come.

Then the start of the rugby union season at club level; followed by the commencement of the (almost) 10 month soccer season; this though was all capped by the Olympic Games from China.

Forget the politics, forget the human rights, forget what effect the stadium’s, newly built, had on local environments in China, the whole presentation has been a magnificent sporting spectacle. To organise an even such as this, on such a universal scale, and with such success is praiseworthy of any nation. I think the gilt on the gingerbread has been the numerous successes of all our British athletes whether on feet or wheels, land or water; a truly great morale boosting occasion for the whole of our tiny group of islands.

Ian Jackson

St Martin’s and St Hilda’s Sharing Agreement

On Friday 12th September at 7 30pm in St Martin’s and St Hilda’s there will be a United Service to mark ten years since the signing of the Sharing Agreement in September 1998. We will be joined by the Bishop of Blackburn and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Lancaster for the Service, which will involve a celebration of the achievements of the last decade and a recommitment for the years ahead. Following the Service refreshments will be served in the Church Hall. Friends and supporters of this ecumenical project are most welcome to join us!

THE HISTORY OF THE SHARED CHURCH in CARLETON

1998 - 2008

For several years the Church of England and Roman Catholic congregations in Carleton have been working together as one family to make the church and grounds more beautiful, and to provide a church hall for the local community to use and enjoy. The building under construction shown here is the new church hall, which has replaced the temporary Portakabin, used so much in these past years. The Church family has worked hard to raise the money for this venture
Fr Nicholson and Fr Muir on the site are apparently laying bricks without mortar!

10TH ANNIVERSARY SEPTEMBER 2008

On Friday September 11th 1998 a service of unity and commitment was held on the occasion of the blessing of the shared church of St Martin and St Hilda by the Catholic Bishop of Lancaster the Rt. Revd. Jack Brewer and the Anglican Bishop of Blackburn the Rt Revd. Alan Chesters. During the service both Bishops signed the Sharing Agreement.

This momentous occasion was the culmination of a growing together of the two congregations which had begun in the 1960s when a Mass Centre for the Catholic residents of Carleton was started in the Scout Hut on Poulton Road and Carleton Church began to hold family communion services n the school hall of Carleton Church of England School on Bispham Road.

In 1964 a Catholic Chapel of Ease was built on Fleetwood Road and dedicated to St Martin de Porres by the late Catholic Bishop of Lancaster the Rt Revd Brian Foley. Meanwhile various possibilities for a new building for Carleton Church of England came to nothing and services continued in the school hall.

Discussions amongst the clergy took place regarding the possibility of the two congregations sharing the church building of St Martin's and as a result Carleton Church was invited to use the building for its services. The first mid-week Eucharist in St Martin de Porres Catholic church took place on September 6th 1995.

Social links between the two churches began to grow and in May 1996 a Link Committee was formed; friendships and trust developed and the clergy 'exchanged' pulpits. A second generous invitation from St Martin's was made to Carleton Church (now called St Hilda's) which lead to the present ecumenical arrangement.

St Hilda's first Sunday Eucharist was held in St Martin's on 6th September 1998. The congregation walked in procession from the school where their services had been held and it was a very moving moment for them to find their Roman Catholic friends lining the path to the door to welcome them to the new shared church.

Shared social activities have cemented friendships across the two communities, joint fund raising and the work of many volunteers have enabled the church and gardens to be enhanced - an outward sign of the growth of fellowship and a desire for St Martin and St Hilda's to make a real difference to the people of Carleton

September 2008