| St. Patrick’s Parish has a good history of ecumenism stretching back to the early 1980’s. Parishioners have been involved in town and county church initiatives such as ‘Stockton for Christ’, ‘Churches Together in Stockton’, and ‘Churches Together in Cleveland’.
We have found, over the years however, that the ecumenism that works best is in the relationships and activities with the local Christian Churches here in the Fairfield/Hartburn area.
This parish has enjoyed good ecumenical relations for many years with the following local churches:-
- St. Mark’s Church of England, Fairfield
- Holy Trinity Church of England. Fairfield
- Greens Lane Methodist Church, Hartburn
- All Saints Church of England, Hartburn village
The pastors of the churches meet weekly to pray together and so have a very good relationship on which to build and further the cause of unity between us. Also, at major liturgical times like Easter, Christian Unity Week and the Feast of the Holy Trinity, parishioners from all the churches gather together to celebrate and mark the occasion.
It is important that our own parishioners here in St. Patrick’s support these occasions by their presence and participation. All ecumenical activities are advertised in the church bulletin.
From a Diocesan point of view, the parish is part of the new ecumenical body in the North East called ‘North East Christian Churches Together’, (NECCT - pronounced ‘next’).
Maurice Ward is the parish ‘link person’ for this and any news and events are also advertised in the bulletin.
|