It's hard to believe, but it's here, the first Newsletter of a new millennium. So may I begin by wishing you all a very happy start to the new century and I'm sure that you all, as I do, look forward to this very special Holy Jubilee Year. Let's hope that there will be plenty for you to share with other servers, and what better way of doing that than to let me have your "Guild News" to publish in the Newsletter. My usual thanks, of course, to those who have contributed either with articles or donations towards the considerable cost of printing and distributing our "free" Newsletter.

AN ARCHCONFRATERNITY WEB SITE

The Archconfraternity is very keen to set up its own Web Site on the Internet. Although some preliminary planning has been done, and we are aware of some 'Guild' sites, which have already been established, we would welcome advice, assistance and expertise from any Guild members who are able to help with this task. In addition to actually designing a web site we need to consider what our site should be required to achieve, and how to set up links with other relevant sites.

Our President, Anthony Ogunseitan, would be delighted to hear from any Guild members with expertise they can offer. Please write to him c/o Archconfraternity of St Stephen, St Joseph's, High Road, Wembley, Middx. HA9 6AG. Or e-mail tonvogunseitan@aol.com

ARCHBISHOP CORMAC MURPHY-O'CONNOR

The Constitution of the Archconfraternity specifies that the Archbishop of Westminster shall be our Superior General. In welcoming Archbishop Cormac's appointment to Westminster, we welcome, too, his becoming our new Superior General.

Reports from the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, which Archbishop Cormac has served as Bishop for over 22 years, suggest that he is well suited to this role.

The liturgy celebrated at Arundel Cathedral has always been of the highest standard, and the then Bishop Cormac has always been both supportive and appreciative of altar servers throughout his Diocese. The Annual Servers Rally, at which he was the principal celebrant, was always followed by a football competition for the Cormac Cup.

In addition to his concerns for altar servers Bishop Cormac put great effort and personal support into the diocesan work for the young people of his Diocese.

In extending a warm welcome to Archbishop Cormac we can be confident that we have been well served by the Vatican's decision to appoint him to Westminster. Ad multos annos.

The response to the appeal, in the Autumn Newsletter, for new members of the Central Council, was disappointing - no nominations being received other than those from Members of the Central Council. This did, however, produce one new member for the Council, Mr. Roger Burton from St Anselm's Tooting Bec (Archdiocese of Southwark).

Mr. Anthony Ogunseitan was re-elected as Honorary President for a second year and Mr. Stuart Adams (Sacred Heart, Bushey) was elected Honorary Vice-President. The following members were elected to serve on the Central Council: -

• John Ahern (lsleworth)
• Mark Brophy (Kingsway)
• Roger Burton (Tooting Bec)
• Michael Chute (Brook Green)
• Mathew D'Souza (StamfordHill)
• Michael O'Leary (Kingsway)

The Central Council's report for the year ending 30th September 1999 showed that the Guild continues to flourish, although the problem of finding suitable people to assist with the work of the Council remains unsolved. A special committee is looking into a re-organisation of the Council. Financially the Guild had another satisfactory year ending with a surplus of £750 to add to the reserves.

Following consultation with the Priests' Council, the Diocesan Lay Councils' Conference and the Central Council, the Guild has recently produced a revised Edition of the Enrolment Ceremony Leaflet.

Although the format of the ceremony remains unaltered, considerable improvements have been made to the text and presentation. The booklet still includes a "Liturgy of the Word" in honour of St Stephen and now includes the music of the official tune for the Guild Hymn. The layout of the booklet has been vastly improved.

The new booklet, which is bound with card, is on sale at the very reasonable price of 20p per copy and may be ordered from the Goods Manager at our Wembley address.

Problems in obtaining accommodation have meant that the dates of this visit have had to be changed and the group will now leave London on Saturday, 21 July 2001 returning the following Saturday, 28 July 2001. The group will spend the first five nights in Rome and the last two in Assisi. At the time of going to press the final costings have still to be agreed but, hopefully, a leaflet giving full details will be enclosed with this Newsletter.

The Rome Committee has reserved 150 places in the two hostels but, as it has already received requests for almost one hundred application forms, early application is advisable.

This year's Guild Annual Dinner, on Wednesday 10 May, will again be at the Parish Centre of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Brook Green, Hammersmith, London W6. We are delighted to announce that the Guest of Honour will be Bishop James McGuinness, Bishop of Nottingham. We are offering an excellent menu (of Melon Boat with rolls or soda bread & butter, followed by breast of chicken in home made white wine sauce with creamed potatoes and seasonal vegetables. Fresh Fruit Salad or Gateaux, and then Cheese and Biscuits and, finally, Tea or Coffee will follow this).

Reception is from 6.45pm with the Dinner commencing at approx. 7.30pm. Tickets are just £12.50 each. Brook Green is easy to get to, being off Hammersmith Road midway between Olympia and Hammersmith Broadway. It is well served by public transport with several bus routes on Hammersmith Road and it is less than 10 minutes' walk from Hammersmith Station (District, Piccadilly and Metropolitan lines). Applications (with the appropriate remittance) and all enquiries to the organiser:

Mark Brophy
“GUILD DINNER”
Archconfraternity of St Stephen
St Joseph’s
339 High Road
Wembley
Middlesex
England
HA9 6AG

In recent years the Annual Dinner has become more and more popular so you are advised to apply early for tickets to avoid disappointment, as the number of places will be limited by the capacity of the Parish Centre.

A SPECIAL LENTEN AFTERNOON FOR ALL (14+) SERVERS

We have just begun the great season of Lent when we should all try to get closer to our Heavenly Father by prayer and good works. In the hustle and bustle of our modern world, Lent can pass by so quickly, and towards the end of it servers and MC's can be preoccupied with the preparations for Holy Week and the Sacred Tridium. As a result we often do not give ourselves the time to get the most out of this wonderful period of preparation for Faster, the greatest feast of the Church's year.

As this is Jubilee Year we invite You (yes, YOU!) to make a special effort to make this Lent more meaningful and treat yourselves to this very special afternoon to come and enjoy the company of fellow servers in prayer and recollection.

This special event takes place on SATURDAY 8 APRIL at the UNIVERSITY CHAPLAINCY. 111 GOWER STREET, LONDON WCIE 6AR. (Nearest tube station Euston Square), beginning at 2pm. Fr John O'Leary, who is Chaplain to the University and a lecturer at Allen Hall will lead the afternoon.

ALL SERVERS (aged 14 plus) are most warmly invited to attend, the more the better. Please do make the effort and come. Together we can make it a successful and most worthwhile afternoon. We can guarantee that it will not be heavy or boring.

If you can come I would be delighted to hear from you. Or if you would like further details please write to me: -

MICHAEL CHUTE
11b VERNON STREET
WEST KENSINGTON
LONDON W14 ORJ.

Annual Mass for Altar Servers at WESMINSTER CATHEDRAL

On Saturday 12 February, Westminster Cathedral hosted the 4th Annual Mass for Altar servers. The Mass was celebrated by Rt. Rev. Bishop Vincent Nichols, assisted by a number of priests from the Diocese including Father Peter Latham (National Director of our Guild).

It was a tremendous occasion with the Cathedral being filled almost to capacity by servers from all over the Diocese and surrounding areas of London and the Home Counties. There were even representatives from Southwark, Brentwood, Arundel and Brighton, Portsmouth and Liverpool. As in previous years, it was a delight to see such a gathering of young people (and some older) coming together to share the Mass. The Cathedral was a marvellous and perfect setting for such an occasion. I think we must have all felt the sad loss of our spiritual leader, Cardinal Basil Hume, at this time. He had led the previous services and held the love and respect of us all. It seemed very moving, that the Cardinal lay in rest alongside us during the Service. Many servers spent time at the chapel where he was laid to rest, for some time, after the Mass.

Rt. Rev. Bishop Vincent Nichols, Administrator of the Archdiocese of Westminster, gave a very informative Homily about the Cathedral, which made everyone more aware of the magnificence and significance of the building and its High Altar.

The Mass had been organised, as in previous years, by the Central Council of the Archconfraternity of St. Stephen. An event of this scale takes a great deal of planning and preparation. It is therefore incredible that with very little time (normally112 hour) that everything comes together so smoothly. Credit for much of this success must go to the late David Notley, a senior member of the Council who sadly passed away this time last year but whose hard work and meticulous planning helped ensure the Annual Servers' Mass will continue to thrive. We look forward to welcoming everyone to next year's Servers' Mass.

LOURDES: A RECOLLECTION

Although a little apprehensive at first, I found my pilgrimage to be truly eye opening. The journey down to the famous town in the south west of France took 25 hours in all. I hardly noticed it myself, after being asleep across three of the back seats for most of the way (my apologies to those who were forced to stand for hours whilst I happily dreamed in the land of nod). On arrival we took our room keys, unloaded our bags, and for a week the Hotel St Contard was our home. Situated about 10 minutes' walk from the Domain, the restaurant food was terrific.

Mass was offered at a nearby convent chapel to thank God for our safe arrival, and it was my privilege to serve in Lourdes for the first time ever. Then I went with two other lads of my age I had just met, Chris and Peter, to explore the town. In spite of the entire souvenir shops and hotels, you can see the true beauty of this French town. The landscape is spectacular, the people are friendly, and there is a nice atmosphere. There is a McDonalds in Lourdes, too.

On Tuesday morning, we celebrated Mass at a local church, and once again we were able to serve. Afterwards, as a group we went on a guided tour of the town, which included visiting the famous Grotto, and the Baths. Although it was the last week of the season at Lourdes, it's true to say that there were a fair number of people there. The moment I saw the statue of Mary in the Grotto, I thought, "Wow, I'm here, where Our Lord's mother actually appeared, not so many years ago." I was taken aback by the beauty of the Grotto area, the River Gave flowing nearby, the Rosary Basilica above, the hundreds of candles to my right, the many pilgrims like myself, to my left, and, inside, a feeling of warmth within my heart.

That evening we came at Our Lady's request, in procession to the Grotto. The torchlight procession began, and five decades of the rosary were said. In between each decade was the singing of the Lourdes hymn, Immaculate Mary. I had never seen so many candles massed as one in my whole lifetime, and I was overwhelmed at the symbolism of it all, and feeling part of a much greater community than I had realised before. Bright and early, on Wednesday morning, at 6am,Iwas unceremoniously awoken by my fellow pilgrims, reminding me of the Mass at the Grotto at 7.30 that morning (woe betide them, lest they ever awake me again, I'm not a morning person).

Even on religious occasions, double-bookings can't be avoided and it was fascinating listening to the Word being preached in German. But as every Mass went by, I began to realise that I was spending more time being truly open to God. Instead of thinking about football, I found myself thinking about God who created us, His world, His universe. I realised how much love and respect I owed Him. By the time we left for home on Friday morning, I felt a changed person. As a member of the Guild of St Stephen, I promised to serve God with true reverence and humility. And as I, once gain, spread across three seats on the coach home, I was ready for the 25-hour journey, back to Liverpool, back to my church, my parish, but hopefully not back to my old ways. Thank you to everyone for helping me to share this unforgettable experience.

A D Grivey

Sacred Heart of Jesus & St John the Evangelist, BUSHEY, Herts.
(Archdiocese of Westminster)

Sunday 5 September, 1999, was a very special day for our Parish. The occasion was the 10.30am Mass, during which ten of our young servers were enrolled into the Archconfraternity. In addition, our Assistant MC, Stuart Adams, known to many in the Guild, was presented with the Archconfraternity's Silver Medal of Merit.

Our congratulations go to the following newly enrolled servers:

• Michael BURKE
• Alexander GARLICK
• Sean LOVELL
• Michael MUNDAY
• Jack O'HALLORAN
• Luke ROBERTS
• Tom SIMPSON
• Luke TERRIS
• David WILSON
• Michael YUDT

Bishop James O'Brien, Bishop in Hertfordshire, came especially to present Stuart's award, and celebrated the Mass with our Parish Priest Father Guy Sawyer and two priest friends of Stuart's. Several of Stuart's other friends, including Fr Danny Cronin, Westminster Diocesan Director, were unable to attend due to parish and Cathedral commitments.

The Hon. President Anthony Ogunseitan, the Hon. Secretary Tony Hawes KSG and Michael Chute, from the Central Council, very kindly attended the celebration, which was followed by a reception, laid on by Stuart's mother, for close friends and family. Stuart had been co-opted onto the Central Council in 1997, and was then elected in 1998. Since that time, in his usual committed way, he has worked hard for the Guild. We wish him well, and thank him for all he does in Bushey.

St Monica's Church, PALMERS GREEN. London
(Archdiocese of Westminster)

We here at St Monica,s Parish are blessed to have such a large set of enthusiastic and reliable altar servers. Led by Mr Anthony Hawes, KSG, Hon Secretary of the Guild, altar serving is flourishing in Palmers Green, with a strength of over 50 servers.

At our annual Guild enrolment service we were pleased to welcome six of our new altar servers into the Archconfraternity:

• G. D'LIMA
• J. Fox
• D. KALUWAHANDI
• S. NEVZAT
• S. O'MAHONY
• C. O'SHEA.

At the service the new members were supported by most of our current Guild members and their parents. We were happy to welcome into the sanctuary Anthony Ogunseitan, Hon. President of the Archconfraternity and Michael Chute, Past President. During the celebration we were also able to present the Guild's Certificate of Merit to three of our servers for completing five years' service: S. CAMMAROTA, J. REEVES and M. REEVES.

The Celebrant, our own Fr Dennis Touw, told us in his sermon a wonderful story of a small village in France which had come under heavy bombing during the last war. He told us that outside the church was a fine statue of Our Lord but it had been blown into fragments by the bombing. However, a group of soldiers helped the priest to collect the pieces and helped him to put the statue together. This was a hard job as many of the fragments were very small. The soldiers could not find the hands. The priest decided not to make a new set and wanted to leave it with an engraving on the pedestal 'Friend, lend me your hands', so that all could see that Christ cannot help anyone except through us. As altar servers we lend our hands to God to help him. The servers were uplifted after hearing the sermon and we could almost hear their replies in the server's promise.

Recently 18 of our servers attended the Westminster Cathedral Mass for Altar Servers, which was celebrated by the newly appointed Archbishop of Birmingham, Vincent Nichols. Two of our altar servers also had the pleasure of serving at the altar of Westminster Cathedral. A group of our altar servers are also looking forward to attending the Annual Guild Dinner in May.

There are also another 20 recruits receiving the highest training by Mr Anthony Hawes, who should all be enrolled at the start of next year in our next enrolment service.

Jonarthan Thevanayagam.

St Patrick. BROCKWORTH. Gloucester

Our Parish joined the Guild in July 1987. Fr John Brennan was our PP and Richard Barter was our MC. Richard has since left the parish and is now ordained into the Priesthood. Sadly we lost touch with the Guild for a while but for the last two years I have managed to get together and train 7 servers and these were enrolled on 3 October at the 10am Mass by our present Parish Priest, Fr Christopher Hickey.

Jim Jackson

The English Martyrs. DIDCOT (Diocese of Portsmouth)

We are pleased to report a special event in our Parish, which happened some little time ago. During a Sunday morning Mass one of our servers, PETER FULLER, was presented with the Gold Medal for 50 years' faithful serving on the sanctuary. This was presented by Anthony Hawes, Hon Secretary, who came all the way from London. Fr Simon, our Parish Priest, said he hoped it would be an example to our future altar servers. When Anthony Hawes presented the Gold Medal he thanked Peter for the many years of faithful service to Our Lord on the sanctuary.

On a more personal note, I have served with Peter regularly since I moved to the area in 1985. He has always been someone I have looked up to, a shining light and a close personal friend. He is knowledgeable, kind and very patient. I hope that his dedication and personal faith is an example to other servers and indeed to all of us.

Peter and I have worked hard to develop our new servers. We are all proud that an enrolment into the Guild will be happening soon.

Adrian Trent
MC

Our Lady & St Benedict Birchington Kent

Bishop John Jukes (the Area Bishop for Kent) visited our parish on Sunday 19th December to present medals of the Archconfraternity.

The BRONZE MEDAL was presented to GREGORY BURNEY, aged 8 who is already able to serve Mass alone. Gregory, who attends St Angela's School, Westgate, made his Promise and commitment to the service of the altar.

The SILVER MEDAL was presented to MATTHEW COCKLIN, aged 19, in recognition of 10 years of faithful service. He is now studying at the University of Kent.

The GOLD MEDAL was presented to Louis CLARKE, who has completed sixty years as an altar server. Louis first served Mass at the Church of St Joan of Arc, Highbury, on 27 August 1939, two days after his seventh birthday. He has been a regular server ever since - 24 years at St Joseph's, Highgate, 31 years at St Mary & St Gregory, High Barnet and for the past 3 years here at Birchington in Kent.

It was a great delight for us to welcome Mr Anthony Hawes, the Guild Hon. Secretary who had travelled from London to be present. Our little church here at Birchington now has 20 members of the Archconfraternity who all serve regularly at Mass.

St Patrick's. Walthamstow (Brentwood Diocese)

The Archconfraternity's Goods Manager, Reg Newton, boosted his sale of Medals in March when 8 of our servers were enrolled into the Guild. Reg is our MC, and now has a team of 38 servers. The Parish has four very long-serving members, Frank Reardon (now, unfortunately bedridden), 70 years, Tony Bull 54 years, Douglas Himpfen 50 years and Reg 49 years - a total of 223 years' service.

Those enrolled by our Parish Priest, Fr Donal O'Connor SMA, are:

• Adrian ABRASALDO
• Emerson CARONAN
• Mellisa CARONAN
• Samuel CASTILLANO
• Gordon CORTES
• Angelo EDWARD
• Christine KALU
• Michelle KALU

Tony Bull
Assistant MC.

Keep praying - you'll get through!

We have all learned to live with voice mail' as a necessary part of modern life. But have you wondered what it would be like if God decided to install voice mail? Imagine praying and hearing this: "Thank you for calling God's House. Please select one of the following Options: Press 1 for Requests; Press 2 for Thanksgiving; Press 3 for Complaints; Press 4 for All Other Inquiries." What if God used the familiar excuse: "I'm sorry all of our angels are busy helping other sinners right now. However, your prayer is important to us and will be answered in the order it was received, so please stay on the line".

Can you imagine getting these kinds of responses as you call God in Prayer. "If you would like to speak to: Gabriel, Press I; For Michael, Press 2; For a directory of other Angels, Press 3; If you would like to hear king David sing a Psalm while you are holding please press 4. To find out if a loved one has been assigned to Heaven, Press 5, enter his or her Social Security number then press the pound key (If you get a negative response, try area code 666)".

"For reservations at "God's House" please enter J-O-H-N followed by 3-1-6.

For answers to nagging questions about dinosaurs, the age of the earth or where Noah's Ark is please wait until you arrive here".

"Our computers show that you have already prayed once today. Please hang up and try again tomorrow". "This office is closed for the weekend to observe a religious holiday. Please pray again on Monday after 9:30 am". "If you need emergency assistance when this office is closed, contact your local pastor".

Thank God Heaven does not have voice mail, and God listens when we pray!