St Joseph

Introduction

In 2019, St Joseph's Ushaw Moor was amalgamated with other churches into a single parish dedicated to Saint John Boste.

History

At Pentecost 2017, the parish of St Joseph's Ushaw Moor joined the Finchale Partnership of Catholic parishes. St Joseph's Ushaw Moor is a daughter church of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, Newhouse, with the first church being a tin tabernacle built east of the Flass crossroads. The early tin tabernacle church was opened on 19 December 1909. The current brick church's foundation stone was laid on 19 June 1930, and the completed church was dedicated on 21 April 1931. A narthex was created with a new font doubling as a Holy Water font at the rear of the church.

Music and liturgy

The Prayer and Spirituality Group exists to support the Parish Priest, to develop and enrich the liturgical life of the parish, and to deepen the individual and collective spirituality of parishioners. Preparation for First Holy Communion and Reconciliation is open to baptised Catholic children from School Year 4 and above and follows the Diocesan Programme.

Parish life

The Parish Pastoral Council is presided over by the Parish Priest and enables laity and clergy to share responsibility for parish life. Members of the PPC are elected from parishioners and represent all the churches in the parish, with nominations sought annually before the Parish Annual General Meeting usually held in October.

The parish has a Green Team supporting FairTrade, a LiveSimply Group, and a group standing in solidarity with women at Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre. Baptism preparation sessions are held three times a year at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Parish Centre on a Monday evening. Confirmation preparation may be run in conjunction with other parishes in the Finchale Partnership.

The parish of St John Boste comprises four Roman Catholic churches in a rural area west of Durham City. The parish office is located at Ushaw Moor.