The first of the summer rain
Coming in this morning after the torrential rain yesterday evening I did wonder whether the repairs in the Parish Room (where we had lots of water management issues over the past years) would prove to be working – to my delight it all looks dry and so does the church.
However… the hall storage area suffered some very obvious problems (as Sam is pointing out in the picture below). Part of the roof is a flat roof and it is noticeably leaking. The whole storage area needed to be emptied and sorted as part of moving back into the Parish Room, but I would have preferred to do that next week rather than this morning. Luckily nothing stored suffered permanent damage and thanks to the amazing dynamic duo Tobin & Sam we got everything cleaned and sorted. Things are now drying…
Opening of the Parish Room
Why am I looking at a picture of an unfinished toilet?
One of the reasons for the delay in finishing the building work in the Parish Room has also been water management. A lot of the work happening is more or less invisible – making sure that walls are dry and insulated took a lot of time and effort. The latest problem was water coming up through the floor or the toilet (ground water, not waste water luckily!) but this meant that the floor had to be ripped open again, a water-proof membrane fitted and the floor relaid on top…
However, this is now done and I dare to hope that next Sunday 25th June we can cut a ribbon and formally declare the Parish Room open again! There will still be things to do – e.g. moving the office furniture back etc (AND YOUR HELP IS NEEDED) – but it will be possible to call the project finished and have a celebratory drink in the garden. See you Sunday!
Communion in both kinds
A few weeks ago I did write about the Doctrine on Concomitance (here!) and bringing back the possibility to communicate from the chalice. This has proved successful and surprisingly popular – I did not expect so many people to make use of the opportunity. This is great – and please remember the practicalities:
- Communion from the chalice is offered near the two side chapels
- please do not attempt to intinct the host, the Eucharistic Ministers will refuse and not allow you to do that.
- Please steer the chalice with your hands, otherwise unpleasant accidents with the consecrated wine are bound to happen and I am very keen to avoid these.
Music for a Summer Afternoon
Roy Anthony Birch (who usually sings during the Mass on the first Sunday of the month) is doing a concert in South Wigston on Saturday 24th June at 2.30pm. Please see here for details.
Family Bike Ride
There is a guided bike ride for families from the St Andrew’s Church, Aylestone (NOT OUR ST ANDREW’S CHURCH!) to the city centre next Sunday (25th June) from 12:45pm. Arranged with Leicester City Centre, who will be providing ride leaders, the ride finishes up at the Open Streets event. This features a range of free content, such as face painting, games, rickshaw rides and a climbing wall. There is other entertainment, such as music, bike show and art. Return ride to St Andrew’s Aylestone is available at 3pm.
Mick goes Walkabout – and you are invited to join him!
Mick McQuade invites you to join him for a summer evening stroll around Leicester city. Mick’s interests are beautiful buildings, art and design, historic places, grand sculptures and church buildings.
Join Mick on Wednesday evening, 5th July, meeting at St Andrew’s Church Hall car park at 6.45 – 7.00 pm. The walk will take about 1½ hours and will finish at the Sir Robert Peel Pub to replace fluids lost along the way.
Summer Fun
In spite of all the problems with building work and rain and leaking roofs the last few weeks have been brilliant – the weather has helped and the joyful atmosphere is tangible.
The morning coffee after the early 8am Mass during the week has moved into the garden most days and as uni lectures have stopped the coffee time has gotten longer… Feel free to join us during the week:
Fr Johannes