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St Martin & St Hilda’s Church Carleton
                                           Services in the Shared Church
                                          of 
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St Martin & St Hilda 
 
Fleetwood Road Carleton
 
 
    SUNDAY                    11 am  Family Communion
 SUNDAY SCHOOL in St Hilda’s School  11 am
 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.
 
Thoughts from Carleton
 
Looking through my Dictionary of the Christian church and the index at the front of the Bible, I was interested to note how many prominent character’s names began with the letter “J.”
 
Some minor characters, some major and some very essential to the Christian story.
 
Jacob was one of the Jewish Patriarchs, the son of Isaac and the father of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Gebulun, Issacher, Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Benjamin, Gad and Joseph.
Joshua, whose book is the 6th in order in the Old Testament. He was leader of the Jewish tribes after Moses and led them into the promised land.
Job a cheery soul who wrote mainly about suffering.
Jeremiah, a prophet who foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and who wrote one the major books of the Old Testament.
Joel a minor prophet whose book starts with a plague of locusts.
Jonah who went to Ninevah against his will, tried to escape by sea, endured shipwreck and was swallowed by a whale.
 
In the New Testament there is John who died in old age at Ephesus, James the brother of Jesus who was beheaded in AD 62, Jude an apostle and finally the most revered and wonderful name in all Christianity Jesus!
 
Ian Jackson
 
 

THE HISTORY OF THE SHARED CHURCH in CARLETON

Fr_Roland_Nicholson
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

St Martin’s and St Hilda’s – 10 years of the Shared Church

Is it really 10 years since we had a marquee on the entrance to the church as we celebrated our coming together?
 
Much has happened since then!
 
The unity and sharing of the church happened because Father Muir made this generous offer to the Carleton congregation. At that time we were still known as Carleton Church, worshipping in the school hall.
 
Our name change to St Hilda’s was agreed in June 1998 and our first midweek service in St Martin’s was led by Revd Andrew Holliday on 6th September 1995, some 3 years prior to our permanent move.
 
During those three years discussions and presentations took place until a final show of hands was asked for by Rev Colin Williams and Carleton almost unanimously accepted Father Muir’s generous offer.
 
In March 1998 a working party from both churches began decorating the interior of the church and work progressed through that year on the outside of the church and re-establishing the garden area and a portakabin was erected to house the Sunday School and social events.
 
I’m sure the people of St Hilda’s will always remember the welcome given to us on our first Sunday in the shared church by the people of St Martin’s as we processed from the school following our morning service and entered the church.
 
The signing agreement took place on Friday 11th September 1998 in the presence of both Bishops. Since that time the existence of the two Christian denominations sharing the one building has created an understanding of each other’s ways of worshipping and living the faith, creating a common bond and we stand confidently together on all that unites us.
Much hard work and dedication has been necessary to build up our shared church and through prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit we have a Church and hall which is at the centre of Carleton and through it’s mission and action is a visible sign of the living church in this community.
 
Graham Baines