Latest News
coffee After 10.30 am Sunday Mass 
You will usually find some parishioners enjoying coffee in the Mr Bean’s Coffee Shop (opp. Poundland). Do please join the group - you may well meet someone whom you have seen at Mass, but never spoken to.
QUIZ NIGHT
St Simon Stock Catholic School PTA are holding a Quiz Night on Friday 9 March 2012 at 7.00 pm. Please make up teams of six people, the cost is £3.50 per person and please bring your own drinks and nibbles. Everyone is welcome to attend, please come and support the Catholic Senior School. This is our first Quiz Night and we hope that it is the first of many! Please contact Lydia Burchell for tickets.
The Pilgrim
The February issue of The Pilgrim is now available at the back of the Church - price 50p (can be placed in Repository Collection Box in Church Porch). This is the newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark, covering south London and Kent. Keep in touch with the news in the Diocese, as well as other parishes in the Southwark Diocese.
ALL ARE WELCOME
It was a great privilege a few Sundays ago for the parish to welcome 17 men and women who are preparing to be baptised or received in the Church at Easter. 10 are preparing to be baptised and 7 to be received into full communion with the Catholic Church. During the weeks leading up to Lent, they will learn more about the faith and on 25 February, the first Saturday of Lent, they will go to St George’s Cathedral in Southwark with hundreds of other men and women from across the diocese for a special service in which they will commit themselves to the final stage of their journey of faith during Lent, leading to the Easter Vigil.
Please remember them in your prayers as a way of accompanying them on the very important journey in their lives.
FRIENDSHIP GROUP (FORMERLY The Parish Social Club)
Wednesday 8 February (11am - 12 noon) Line Dancing in Parish Hall.
Monday, 13 February (10.30am) Coffee in the Society Rooms
N.B. NO LINE DANCING DURING HALF TERM
Monday, 27 February (10.30am onwards) - Tenpin Bowling at King Street, Maidstone.
Saturday, 21 April (7.30pm) - St Francis’ Parish Film Night in the Parish Hall. (Further details to follow)
Satrurday, 12 May (7.30pm) - St Francis’ Parish Quiz Night (Further details to follow).
Please note name change (from Social Club). This change has been made in the hope that it will encourage more parishioners and their friends to join us. The Friendship Group is open to all. It’s a chance to meet fellow parishioners who attend other Masses. To find out more about it or FFI. contact Mary Adam.
The Catenians - Strengthening family life through friendship and Faith
The Catenian Association is a brotherhood of over 10,000 practising Catholic men. The Catholic faith and the family are bedrocks of the Association which gives an opportunity to:
Meet Catholic men with similar values.
Become part of a community offering lifelong support and friendship.
Be part of a group that helps each other and their families in all aspects of life.
Provide families with opportunities for friendship and social activity.
A core aim is to advance the interests of young Catholics and assist them in their choice or pursuit of their career.
The Catenian Bursary Fund helps young Catholics between 16 and 25 to take part in a community-based project at home or abroad, which has a clear benefit for others as well as widening the life experience of the participant. FFI ring John McElroy (01622)762936
Click here to see more details about the Catenian Association in Maidstone
GIFT AID
At this time of giving please help raise our coffers by making use of the Gift Aid Envelopes, if you are a taxpayer, for all donations. Also, if you are a taxpayer and wish to make a ‘one off donation’, please use a yellow envelope (in Church Porch). But remember to complete the details requested on the envelope. Without these details we can not claim Gift Aid.
PARISH LOTTERY
The new series will run from 6 January until 29 June 2012, and payment by members will become due on or before 6 January. Collectors will be in the porch before each Mass on: Sundays 9.00am and 10.30am Masses on 11/18 December & 8 January; and Saturdays and Sundays 6.00 pm Masses on 10/11 & 17/18 December & 7/8 January. If you have elected to pay by Bankers Order you need only collect your new ticket(s).
Please endeavour to make your payment on one of these dates or, alternatively, leave your payment in an envelope marked with your name and/or lottery number, at the Presbytery.
I hope you will continue to support this fund raising activity, as the balance remaining after the prize monies have been paid in each series makes a valuable contribution towards Parish funds. This amounted to over £3,300 for the two series this year.
New members are always very welcome; just speak to one of the collectors or contact Zena or Viv via the Presbytery.
Thank you for your support.
P.L. Organiser
P.S. Look out for the announcement of the winner of Week 26, who will receive £1,000! It could be you!!
The Social Welfare Group
offers help to those parishioners who need it, irrespective of age, circumstances, etc. The help offered is of a general nature e.g. shopping, visiting, and friendship. To contact the Group please leave your particulars at the Presbytery for the attention of Pat McKee.
The Bereavement Ministry
as the name suggests, offers help to those parishioners who have suffered a bereavement. It is not a counselling ministry; support and practical help will be given where needed. Meetings of the Ministry will be held on the last Wednesday of the month, after the 10 am Mass. The meetings will be held in the Presbytery. To contact the Ministry please leave your particulars at the Presbytery for the attention of Annie Rice.
