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St Catherine with St. Chad

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General Information & Pictures

The Church - St. Catherine with St. Chad
St. Chad's shares a building with St. Catherine‘s Roman Catholic Church. In 1995 it was completely refurbished and is now a very attractive modern building.

St. Chatherine with St. Chad Picture - St. Catherine with St. Chad

The new church of St. Catherine with St. Chad was consecrated by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham and Bishop Keith of Lichfield on 26 June 1996 and has an official sharing agreement between the two churches. At present the Roman Catholic congregation use the church for Wednesday morning and Saturday evening Mass while the Anglican also use on a Wednesday morning, a Sunday morning, plus other services in the week.

The biggest estate in the borough of Walsall (some 1500 homes) Gypsy Lane Estate continued to grow and became known as Beechdale Estate. In the parish of Blakenall Heath it soon became clear to the PCC that there was a need for a church on the estate. The first St Chad's, a multi-purpose unit, was built by Spooners of Hull and was dedicated by the Lord Bishop of Lichfield on 1 May 1958. In 1962 a new curate's house was built alongside the church, Blakenall Heath Parish became a Team and St Chad's gained its own Team Vicar and District Church Council..

Picture - St. Chad's Vicarage The Vicarage

Following an invitation by the Roman Catholic community on Beechdale, an experiment was begun in 1970 whereby the two congregations shared the building at St Catherine Laboure ( the RC Chapel of ease on the estate) This arrangement continued with great success and soon became incorporated in a legal sharing agreement. The original St Chad's building, built in 1958, remains as a Church Hall.

Picture - St. Chad's Hall
 St. Chad's Hall
Picture - The Architects view of the redeveloped site of St.Catherine with St. Chad
 Architect's View

1985 saw the church of St Catherine in a state of disrepair and a radical move was planned whereby RC, C of E, Walsall Council and Caldmore Housing Assoc. combined with City Challenge to restore and re-orientate the church building.

Several plans were drawn up and the eventual redevelopment of the site took the shape of a Health Centre, sheltered bungalows for those of advanced years and a community building which includes a church, meeting room and offices.

The church was rededicated by the RC Archbishop of Birmingham and the Bishop of Lichfield on 26 June 1996.

Since this time the church has flourished both as a place of worship and as the headquarters of the Open Door Project. The ramifications of this project are many and varied and more details can be found elsewhere.

Pictures - St. Chad's Congregation
Congregation Architect's View

St Chad's congregation has always had a close association with the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham and a cell was initiated at St Catherine with St Chad. Regular pilgrimages are undertaken to Walsingham each year.

To celebrate 50 years of the C of E on Beechdale, in May 2008 a week of special events took place beginning with a BCP Eucharist and Evensong and Benediction in the old St Chad‘s and culminating with modern services of, said Eucharist (CW), a Celtic-style morning prayer and a rock-style Beechdale Praise the following Sunday in St Catherine with St Chad

Picture of Window
WindowIn addition a new window was dedicated, which depicts some of the history of Beechdale in stained glass.

Parish Records
Historic records of St Chad (Beechdale), Blakenall Heath, have been deposited at Staffordshire Record Office, where they are available for consultation by the public. These comprise a service register 1958-1963.

A catalogue of these records is available in "Gateway to the Past" - the online catalogue of the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service. The Archive Service's website provides further information on planning a visit to the office to consult records, should you wish to do so.


Services at St Chad's


Day

Time

Service
Sunday9.30 amSung Communion
Baptisms by appointment
6.30 pmBeechdale Praise (1st Sunday)
Cafe Service 2nd Sunday
Evensong Last Sunday
5th Sunday8.30 amSaid Communion followed by Breakfast
9.45 amCeltic Worship
Tuesday 5.30 pmEvening Prayer
Wednesday10.15 amSaid Communion
10.15 amHoly Communion at Jenner House (4th Wednesday)
5.30 pmEvening Prayer
Thursday5.30 pmEvening Prayer
There are Roman Catholic Masses on Wednesday at 9.15 am and on Saturday at 6.30 pm




Our Church Leaders

Priest / Leader

Name

Telephone / E-mail
Team Vicar
Vacant01922 612081
Licensed Lay Reader Mrs A. Killian01922 711375
Parish Warden Miss Mandy Keay07742917766
District Warden Mr Phil Whittall01922 636003
District Warden Mr Alan Bednall 01922 649243
Deputy Warden Ms Johanne Harrison 01922 448893
Organist Mrs Barbara Tonks01922622167
Project Manager - Open Door Miss Mandy Keay07742917766



Walsall Senior Citizens Linkline

Linkline - What do we do?
The Senior Citizens Linkline is a pro-active telephone support service in Walsall.

We telephone clients weekly at a day and time to suit them.

They may want just a friendly chat or they may have concerns they would like to share.

Who are we?
We are a completely voluntary project run by St. Chad's Church.

We work from a conviction that our Senior Citizens should receive the very best care possible and no one should feel isolated or alone.

Our membership is open to people over the age of 60 in Borough of Walsall.

Linkline office:- 01922 640916 Project Manager - Mandy Keay 07742 917766

Project Worker Ann Killian: Contact Office number.

Linkline Drop Sessions: St. Catherine with St. Chad Church Beechdale and Christ Church Blakenall.

 Christ Church Drop In
Picture - Christ Church Blakenall Drop In Christ Church Blakenall Thursday 10.00 am - 12 noon.
 SC Drop in
Picture - St. Chad's Beechdale Drop In Monday 10.00am - 12.00noon.