Parish News
FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR DEBBIE THORPE RIP
Debbie's Funeral Mass will take place at St George's Church at 1pm next Monday 6th September and afterwards at the Early Music Centre in Walmgate.
The Mass will be lived streamed on the Church Facebook page.
Unfortunately we can't offer any parking space in the Church car park on a weekday, only on Sunday.
CHANGES TO SUNDAY MORNING MASS
For a trial period of 6 weeks from Sunday 5th September, it will no longer be necessary to book for Sunday morning Mass. Just come to Mass on the day and sit where you prefer.
We do ask that you still wear a mask and choose your seat with social distancing in mind and due consideration for fellow parishioners.
You will also notice the re-introduction of missalettes and the collection plate in due course at both Sunday Masses.
We will still continue to live stream Sunday morning Mass for the time being.
DEBBIE THORPE
The thoughts and prayers of all the parish are with Martin, Benedict and Lucy Thorpe at this time. Debbie passed away peacefully on Sunday evening after a long and brave resistance to a most debilitating health condition. Throughout, Debbie never lost her faith and attended Mass with Martin whenever practical. Martin and Debbie have been an inspiration to many in the parish for their positivity and patience throughout the last decade. RIP Debbie.
MASS AND HOLY COMMUNION
You’ll notice some small changes to Holy Communion from this weekend as we move back to receiving the Blessed Sacrament as part of Mass.
This means that you will be able to return to your seats for the final blessing after Communion.
For a trail period of 6 weeks from Saturday 21st August, there will be a Mass in place of private prayer at 10am each Saturday morning.
Church will be open for a short period of time after Mass for private prayer.
UPDATED ARRANGEMENTS FOR HOLY MASS
To update you on some new arrangements from this week as we move back to 3 Masses per week.
I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear that you will no longer need to book for Wednesday Mass or for Sunday evening Mass from next week.
Nonetheless we ask you to maintain sensible social distance and strongly encourage the wearing of masks, as you have been doing.
Sunday morning Mass tends to be the most popular so we will continue to operate a seating plan which will require you to book a place, for the time being.
You’ll notice from next week that we will be removing the ribbons from the closed benches in the Church.
This is an important visual step to reclaim normality in our Church and will allow us to slightly increase the number of places on Sunday morning while keeping a level of distancing.
The seating plan for Sunday morning will use these extra benches as needed but parishioners will be well spaced so that we all continue to feel safe at church.
At the less busy Masses we trust parishioners will continue to make sensible decisions on seating and social distancing. We constantly monitor numbers and try to strike a balance between safety and flexibility.
Finally, due to a rapidly diminishing audience, we have decided to discontinue the live stream of Wednesday mass. Livestreaming will continue for now on Sunday mornings.
If you have any feedback, comments or suggestions about arrangements for Mass or Private Prayer, please speak to one of the welcomers at Mass, email or send us a message on our Facebook page.
Thank You.
CALLING ALL ALTAR SERVERS (old and new)
Steve (Holder) would love to hear from past servers who would like to return or any new recruits.
Email the bulletin address:
bulletin@stgeorgeschurch-york.uk
or drop a note through the Rectory door addressed to Steve.
MONSIGNOR SEAMUS KILBANE FUNERAL RECORDING 23.07.21
Here is the link to take you to a high quality recording of the Funeral Mass for Monsignor Seamus Kilbane RIP on St George's YouTube Channel:
ARRANGEMENTS FOR MASS AND PRIVATE PRAYER AT ST GEORGES FROM 19TH JULY
You'll be aware from recent government announcements that most Covid-related restrictions are due to be lifted nationally from Monday 19th July.
Our Church volunteers who have kept us all safe at Mass over the last 12 months have now met to discuss and agree what changes we should make to arrangements for Mass at our Church and over what period.
In view of the rising number of cases of Covid nationally, high incidence locally and the fact that until Sunday 8th August we will only be celebrating 1 Mass on a Sunday, we have decided to keep existing arrangements in place for the time being.
We are due to review this again at the beginning of August once we move back to 3 Masses per week.
This means that:
- Booking is still essential for Sunday morning Mass, so that we can manage the numbers and ensure safe capacity
- We request that everyone continues to where a mask in Church for their own and fellow worshippers protection
- We will continue to operate a seating plan for Sunday morning Mass, that takes account of a continuing need for social distancing inside Church
- You will be invited to sanitise on entry to Church and prior to Communion please
- Sunday Mass will continue to be live steamed for the time being
Private prayer will also continue in the meantime on Saturday mornings.
We hope you will continue to feel safe coming to Holy Mass and to continue to support our volunteers in the tremendous efforts they are making on all our behalf.
MONSIGNOR SEAMUS KILBANE RIP
We have been very moved by the number of messages and tributes that have followed the news of Seamus passing away earlier this week. We thought parishioners would like to read more about his various ministries.
Seamus was born in Mount Bellew, County Galway on 28 July 1930. He went to St Patrick’s Seminary in Thurles and was ordained on 10 June 1956. His first parish as a curate was at Corpus Christi in Hull from 1956 to 1960. He was moved to St Peter’s in South Bank as a curate from 1960 to 1963 then he was moved to St Andrew’s in Teesville as a curate from 1963 to 1967.
Between 1967 and 1968, he went to Corpus Christi College for the Institution of Religious Education in Bayswater, London and returned in 1968 to be appointed as curate at the Sacred Heart in Redcar. In 1971, he was appointed chaplain at Endsleigh College in Hull for one year and in 1972, he was appointed parish priest at St Mary & St Joseph’s in Pocklington.
He returned to being chaplain for the Endsleigh students from Hull College of Higher Education from 1973 to 1979 and during that time took up his appointment as parish priest in 1976 at St Anthony & Our Lady of Mercy in Hull. In 1982, he was given the title of Monsignor and was moved to St George’s in York as parish priest up until 1995. In 1995 until 2002, he was moved as the parish priest to St Peter & St Paul in Leyburn and in 2002, he retired in York and then moved to the Holy Name Care Home in Hull.
Seamus did a great deal of work for education in this part of the world and was indeed a very educated man himself.
His funeral took place at St George’s in York on Friday 23 July 2021 and he is buried in York cemetery.
A high quality recording of the Funeral Mass is available via this link:
SCRIPTURE PRAYER GROUP
A small group meets online via Zoom to pray with the Sunday readings.
We are currently meeting on the first Monday of the month - the next meeting will be on Monday 5th July at 7.00pm (for about an hour).
No experience or commitment required - everyone welcome!
For more info or a link for the Zoom meeting, please email
TRAMWAYS CLUB DEVELOPMENT
We thought parishioners would be interested to know what is happening with the site opposite Church which houses the former Tramways Club. The developers have contacted us to say they have submitted a planning application for a residential development to be called "St George's Terrace". The full details are available by following this link:
The website also includes a facility to send any comments directly to the developers.
PRAYING AT HOME - DAILY READINGS
The Mass readings for each day of the week are available via the following link:
https://universalis.com/europe.england.middlesbrough/mass.htm
STREAMING SERVICES
We stream all our services from St George’s Church via our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/stgeorgeyork
High quality recordings of Holy Mass are also available the same day on our You Tube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY2FMKcf74iHMsb4i77H4GA
Live streams of Holy Mass from the Cathedral in Middlesbrough are also broadcast from the Diocesan You Tube Channel