Altar Servers
Altar Servers help to bring life to our liturgical celebrations, allowing the whole community to praise God, and we want all parts of our community to be represented. The minimum requirement is that the servers should have received their First Holy Communion.
People of all ages are welcomed as servers, and from all walks of life. Full training is given, with regular outings for lunch afterwards. We know that mistakes do not matter because God loves the service, and we serve the altar, the priests and the congregation equally. But of course we try not to get things wrong.
After a year of membership servers are enrolled in the Guild of St Stephen, for Altar Servers everywhere (and of all ages).
For more information please talk to Jill Clough at Mass or email her when it is convenient (jill@jillclough.me.uk). And of course you can talk to Fr Hugh, Fr Simon or Deacon George about how to get involved.
Music Group
“Natural religious instinct urges us to honour God by means of music as well as by the other arts, and to heighten our religious exaltation by joyous singing” (the Catholic Encyclopaedia).
Well, religious exaltation might seem a tall order on a wet November Sunday morning in Kendal, but that’s why we have a Music Group. We’re a group of musicians whose aim it is to encourage all the congregation to join in joyous singing. We aren’t there to give a performance in front of an audience – we’re there to lead the congregation by example, and to keep the music fresh by gently introducing new hymns alongside the old favourites.
We are always delighted to welcome new members. If you play an instrument – keyboard, string, brass, woodwind, percussion – welcome. Singers of all types are welcome. You don’t have to be able to read music: as long as you can sing out, more or less in tune, the Holy Spirit can do the rest.
Our full group meets for the 10am Mass on Sunday, but we are keen to extend this to other Masses. You don’t need to be able to turn up every week. We don’t expect you to spend hours rehearsing; if we’re learning something new, or there’s a “big do” coming up, we’ll stay behind for ten minutes or so after Mass.
SVP
The St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP) is an international Christian voluntary organisation which tackles poverty & disadvantage by giving direct practical assistance to those in need. It helps people on a face to face basis, regardless of faith, colour, race or status. The SVP respects and values all people. It is non-discriminatory and non-judgemental.
The Society aims to help anyone in need if it is within our local membership’s capability while maintaining their confidentiality and dignity.
What does the SVP do?
Local visiting is our core work. Building relationships based on trust and friendship gives the SVP its unique character. Visiting individuals, families, the sick at home or in hospitals, hospices, care and nursing homes. Loneliness – especially among the elderly – is growing. Members visit housebound people to prevent them feeling isolated. Support may include doing shopping, decorating, gardening, filling in official forms and ensuring they receive their statutory benefits. Our SVP provides transport for Sunday Mass and to special events such as Cleator Pilgrimage and the Chrism Mass at Lancaster Cathedral.
Does the SVP help developing countries?
SVP have a Twinning programme to give financial support from our UK groups directly to SVP members in developing countries. England and Wales SVP groups are twinned with India, Grenada, Guyana and Sudan SVP groups. Members there provide “first aid” and finance projects for schemes to make local populations self-sufficient, e.g. providing bicycles, sewing machines, animals, loans for businesses or digging wells.
Our Kendal group is twinned with an Indian SVP group in Kerala.
What can I do for SVP?
- Join us
- Pray for us
- Encourage us
- Tell others about our work
- Donate money and/or furniture or household goods
Raymond Daley, SVP President. 07462 014088. RaymondD@svp.org.uk
Prayer Group
On Wednesdays a group of people meet in the parish centre to pray together. We sing God’s praises and pray to deepen our relationship with Jesus especially through praying with scripture. We pray for one another and intercede for others, including for all in this parish. The Holy Spirit is our guide and we encourage the use of the gifts of the Spirit.
We have continued to meet for over 45 years with many different people being part of these prayer meetings, some from other places or Christian traditions. All are welcome.
We have reached out to others, particularly by offering prayer ministry to any who would like to bring particular needs before Jesus. This has taken different forms, including special services of prayer for healing, and there is now prayer ministry after the 10am Sunday Masses.
“Baptism in the Spirit”, a prayer for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the lives of individuals, is at the heart of this renewal movement. We have offered this many times over the years, in the context of Life in the Spirit Seminars.
The prayer meetings in Kendal are part of a world wide movement known as Catholic Charismatic Renewal, an expression of the Holy Spirit moving in the church, after Vatican II and similar movements of the Spirit in other churches. This work of the Spirit is expressed in a variety of ways in different contexts. Our desire is to help others to have their Christian lives renewed by an experience of the Holy Spirit who equips us with gifts for service and mission.
Oratory
All Catholic parishes are Eucharistic Communities. The clergy and people of this parish, wanting to express their belief in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, use an Oratory (a Prayer Chapel), attached to the Priest’s House.
In this Oratory, the Blessed Sacrament is exposed between the hours of 7am and 9pm, Monday to Friday, except when Mass is being celebrated in the main Church.
The Chapel has been open for many years. It can seat 8 people and anyone is welcome to spend any length of time in the Chapel. Access is gained via a keypad, the code for which is available from our parish priest.
Overseas Aid Group/Mary’s Meals
In about 2001 a group of our parishioners formed the parish’s own Overseas Aid Group, the O.A.G.
For a number of years our parish has sponsored schools overseas through Mary’s Meals. Our latest school is the Chabwera School in Zambia and we are working towards raising a target of £5610.95.
So far we have raised over £4000! This has come from coffee mornings and the money box cash collected throughout the year, as well as generous donations from individuals and an amazing £600 after Marys Meals contact, Fran, visited and presented a small talk to the congregation. The money raised is hugely appreciated by all, especially the children at school who now benefit from wholesome meals on a regular basis.
As we have not raised the full sponsorship for this school we will be allocated a new, smaller, school for next year and we will keep you updated with this.
Eucharistic Ministers
As extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion the team of Eucharistic Ministers assist with the distribution of the Body and Blood of Christ both in the Church and by taking Communion to the sick in the community.
Holy Trinity and St George 