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Brandon
Parish Magazine
July/August 2021
St. John’s Church, Brandon &
St. Catherine’s Church, New Brancepeth
Services
are now taking place in St. John’s and St. Catherine’s
using Covid-19 safety regulations.
The Eucharist services are shorter than normal with no singing.
Details are:
St. John’s: Holy Eucharist at Sundays
– 9.45 am,
Mondays – 7.00 pm, Wednesdays – 9.00 am
St. Catherine’s: Holy Eucharist at
Sundays – 8.45 am, Thursdays – 9.30 am
Morning Prayer Thursdays – 8.45;
also by Zoom Tuesday and Friday at 8.45am.
Please contact Fr. Carl for an invitation.
Contacts
Fr. Carl Peters: The Clergy House, Sawmill Lane, Brandon,
Durham, DH7 8NS. Tel: 0191 6803875, revpeters28@gmail.com
Other Contact Telephone Numbers
St. John’s: David (Churchwarden) – 3789718; Carolyn
– 6803875
St. Catherine’s: Joe – 3739927; Liz – 3731554
Website http://www.brandonparish.org.uk/Welcome.htm
https://www.facebook.com/StJohnTheEvangelistChurchBrandon
https://www.facebook.com/Stjohnschurchhallmeadowfield
https://www.facebook.com/pg/StCatherinesChurchNewBrancepeth
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From
the Registers
Wedding
at St John’s Church
31st July 2021 Christopher Ball & Jessica Grant
Wedding at St Catherine’s Church
28th Aug. 2021 Christian James Wood & Jodie Amelia Corbett
Funeral at St. John’s church
7th July 2021 Lilian Storey
17th Aug. 2021 Ann Hitch
Funeral at St. Catherine’s church
5th Aug. 2021 Sheila Dowling
Funerals at Crematorium
5th July 2021 John Lesley Walker
9th July 2021 Karl Harrison
29th July 2021 David Spoor
17th Aug. 2021 Doreen Carr
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Church
Services
At present our services are restricted by the Covid regulations.
With the hoped for relaxations, it may be possible to return
to a more normal mode of operation with singing.
Details will be announced on the church website and on the
church notice boards.
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Priest’s
Letter
Priest’s
Letter
It doesn’t seem five minutes since I wrote in the last
magazine about the summer ahead and having breaks/holidays or
just spending it at home, and how as Christians it’s important
to spend time out and be refreshed in the presence of God. Well
now the summer holiday period draws to an end with harvest well
under way and children/young people getting ready to go back
to school. I don’t know about you but the last day of
the summer holidays was always a sad day for me as those endless
days and weeks were closing in and the discipline of school
and routine would return. And on the morning of return itself,
I have early memories of feeling nervous in a new school uniform
and sharpening pencils!
I’m sure you have your own memories! Perhaps you were
unlike me looking forward to going back to school? But whatever,
moving on and facing the things we might not fancy, is something
we have to get used to in life. In some situations, moving on
is a real big thing and on a wider level we might think of the
many Afghans who have been leaving the place of their birth,
in not the most easy of circumstances and with all the uncertainty
of what life is going to look like for them in a new land.
The last 18 months or so have of course been very difficult
with the pandemic. We none of us expected lockdowns and Tier
3’s, which on the back of a lockdown don’t make
things seem much better. A sort of extended time of closures
and our world not looking or feeling very normal. For all the
times when we’ve felt like we’re moving forward
a little, there has probably been as many times when it’s
felt like we’re moving backwards. We have of course made
much progress in these last months with vaccination roll out
and much loved freedoms returning. ‘Long may it continue’
we might say, whilst being aware that Covid19 will be part of
our conversations and thoughts for a good while yet.
And so, for some, the next few weeks will be a time of moving
on and moving forwards. The next year group in school, or up
to the big school or maybe college. Perhaps it’s entering
into the world of work or starting a new job. For others it
might be moving home or leaving home. |
Or perhaps we’re getting ready to retire and leaving behind
the world of work, wondering what we might do next?
And then there is our Christian faith journey.
Where will that take us?
Do we want to go anywhere with it, or just leave it comfortably
where it is, safe and unchallenging?
But then surely a living faith is a bit like life. It moves
forward and goes through changes and challenges, as we get to
know God more.
Yes, there’s always room for a maturing faith.
A faith that rises to challenges and holds on when the going
gets tough.
A faith that looks to our Lord for guidance on how we might
recognize new opportunities of living and expressing the life
we live with Jesus.
We are after all called to serve the one who serves us and sometimes
that might mean stepping into unfamiliar territory, where we
don’t really know what life will look like.
Perhaps we are hearing God’s call to lead us into some
sort of ministry we hadn’t imagined. Or maybe it’s
a call to examine the path we’re going on and examine
some of our behaviours.
Going further we might even need to make big changes our lifestyle.
All of this is sacrificial, as we leave things behind, departing
from the old and embracing the new, putting our trust in the
one who calls us forward. In our trust we are blessed.
 “Blessed
is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”
Jeremiah 17:7-8
Father Carl
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Our
Harvest Collections will be given to Farm Africa 
Farm Africa is showing how increased confidence can be the
key to sustained success.
Petronila
is a smallholder farmer and chairperson of the Amcos marketing
Co-op in Ngoley village, Tanzania. She cares for her nine-year-old
grandson and elderly mother.
However, she has not always felt so able to cope with all
her responsibilities as she does today.
Before joining a Farm Africa project, Petronila was farming
cotton, sorghum and wheat, but was struggling to make an income
from her crops. There were no buyers for the cotton, and the
sorghum would get destroyed by animals in the night.
"The income was not sufficient. Sometimes I could
only pay for half of the children's school fees, and sometimes
I could not meet all of my family's basic needs."
Petronila also struggled to fully utilise her land and was
only managing to farm a fifth of it. But in 2009, a year after
joining a Farm Africa project, Petronila joined a farmers
group and her confidence began to build as her knowledge increased.
"I learnt techniques of modern farming. I learned
about using row planting, displacing and using fertilisers
and improved seed varieties.
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Before
joining the project, we were not even ploughing the farm.
We were just digging holes and planting the seeds."
Joining a savings and lending group was another building brick
of her success.
"I was able to get capital and was able to build
a new house. I was also able to become a chicken farmer."
This year Petronila planted seven acres of sesame and has
gone from earning 300 to 500 shillings a year to earning four
million (~£1,200) a year from sesame alone! In less
than a decade, Petronila, who once lived in a mud a straw
house, has been able to build new homes made of strong foundations.
She has become a leading member of her community and takes
great satisfaction from sharing her knowledge with others.
"I have been training other farmers. The other
farmers in the community come to my house and ask me questions
about sesame farming.
Sometimes I even teach farming techniques at church. I'm proud
that I can help. I remember how hard life used to be for me,
and want to pull out others in that situation."
She feels the support she has received from Farm Africa has
helped everyone. 
"Most group members have changed the quality
of their lives.
Their children are all in school and they all have iron roofs."
With each success, Petronila's confidence has grown.
Feeling better able to cope with what life throws at her,
she continues to look forward to the future with optimism.
"I am eager to see my last child go to university."
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Special
Services
Climate
Sunday Service
DH7 Churches Together - Climate Sunday
Service
Sunday 5th September 2021 6:00pm, St Andrew’s Brandon
Enquiries – Bill Offler 0191 378 2883
Please
come to this service about the biggest crisis that challenges
humankind
Harvest Festivals:
St. John’s 9.45, Harvest Eucharist. Sunday 26th Sept
St. Catherine’s 4.00 pm. Harvest Praise. Sunday 19th
Sept
This will be a service which would be suitable to invite friends
or neighbours to. We will be singing hymns and songs, without
masks if you choose. (No 08.45 Service that Sunday)
At both St. John’s and St. Catherine’s non-perishable
gifts will be given to the Food Bank. The collection will
be given to Farm Africa - see separate article.
Events
St. Johns MU: Wed. 8th Sept. 2.00 pm. We
will resume meetings after summer break. We look forward to
seeing everyone again. We would like to thank everyone who
donated to our appeal for clothes etc. for the Women’s
Refuge Durham. They were delighted with everything they received
from us and we hope to do this again nearer Christmas.
Prayer for Our Churches: Wednesdays, 22nd
September and 19th October at 1:30-2:15 pm, (note change of
time and day).
We will be meeting in person; on 22nd September. in St. John’s
church, location to be decided for October.
Further details from Bill Offler.
PCC Meeting:Wednesday 22nd September,6.30
pm in St. John’s Church.
Parish Morning away: Saturday, 16th October, 9.30
– 13.00, at Ushaw College. Pre-Covid we had a PCC Morning,
but this year Fr. Carl is inviting all the congregational
members to come. It will have a time of devotion and contemplation
on the theme of ‘Renewal’
– renewal individually and renewal for our churches.
The morning will end with a Eucharist in one of the chapels
at Ushaw College. More details nearer the time – Please
put it in your diary and come if you possibly can!
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BRANDON
FOOD BANK
St. John's is recommencing collecting donations for the Food
Bank. Also St. Catherine’s is continuing to collect
donations. Please give generously.
St. John’s Hall Update
The following activities are on at the hall, but places must
be booked.
Mondays: 9.30 am - 11.30 am from 20th Sept. St John’s
church playgroup; 12.15 pm - 1.15 pm. Pilates
with Paul 07804 541181
Tuesdays: Hartbeeps Morning , Contact Abby
07534 018440; 7 pm Advanced Ballroom, Latin and sequence
dancing with Dianne Ross 0776 9632412.
Wednesday: 9.30 am Paul’s over 50’s circuits.
07804 541181;
10.45 am SOSA dance fitness classes, contact
Trudy 0778 7419022;
5.30 pm Pilates with Paul. 07804 541181
Thursdays: 10 am Swing Fit, 0771 9174544
Fridays: AM, Little movers, contact durhamandseaham@littlemovers.net
The guiding groups can be contacted through
guiding.uk.
Prayer Points
Please pray for our church, our community and our world:
• Pray for the coronavirus pandemic with rising levels
of infection, though low levels of hospitalisation due to
the vaccination programme. Let us pray that all Western governments
will be generous with supplying vaccines to less well-off
countries.
• At this harvest time as we make gifts to the food
bank pray for all those in need and for the work of the food
bank in Brandon.
• Pray also for the work of Farm Africa, and for areas
of the world where people are suffering in poverty and starvation.
• Pray for our Parish Morning on 16th October. Pray
that individually we may experience God’s renewal and
a new vision of for the life of our churches.
• Pray that we will be able to share God’s love
with our friends and neighbours, and especially any we know
who are suffering in some way at this time.
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