Welcome to the Parishes of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Eastwood. Our Lady and St Thomas of Hereford, Ilkeston and St John the Evangelist, Stapleford.

Parish Priest: Fr Paul Newman
Welcome everyone to our joint parish website offering helpful information for the parishes of St John the Evangelist Stapleford, Our Lady and St Thomas’ Ilkeston, and Our Lady of Good Counsel Eastwood.
We are three communities that have been brought together with one mission – to bring the love of Jesus, the caring heart of Jesus, to each other and to those we are involved with in our towns and villages.
St Paul in his letter to the people living in Ephesus, tried to build the Christian community, the Church in Ephesus, through prayer; ‘I pray that Christ may make his home in your hearts’ Paul said, ‘so that being rooted and grounded in love, you may have the strength to know the love of Christ and be filled with the fulness of God’.
St Paul’s prayer is my prayer for us! And if we can do that, if we can know the love of Christ and be filled with the fulness of God, then we really can call ourselves people who are built around Christ. Together we can make a difference.
Bookmark the website, follow us on Social Media platforms, call in to see us at one of our Masses – you’ll be very welcome. And know we are here for you!
God bless and promises of prayers,
Fr Paul and the team!

Mass & Sacraments
The origin and foundation of Christian Baptism is Jesus. Before starting his public ministry, Jesus submitted himself to the baptism given by John the Baptist. The waters did not purify him; he cleansed the waters. . . . Jesus did not need to be baptised because he was totally faithful to the will of his Father and free from sin. However, he wanted to show his solidarity with human beings in order to reconcile them to the Father. By commanding his disciples to baptise all nations, he established the means by which people would die to sin – Original and actual – and begin to live a new life with God.
In Baptism, the Holy Spirit moves us to answer Christ’s call to holiness. In Baptism, we are asked to walk by the light of Christ and to trust in his wisdom. We are invited to submit our hearts to Christ with ever deeper love.
For more information about making your First Holy Communion get in touch!
It doesn’t matter how long its been since you have been to Mass. You are always invited to encounter Jesus in the Mass.
“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.'” – John 6:35
The prophets of the Old Testament foretold that God’s Spirit would rest upon the Messiah to sustain his mission. Their prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus the Messiah was conceived by the Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus on the occasion of his baptism by John. Jesus’ entire mission occurred in communion with the Spirit. Before he died, Jesus promised that the Spirit would be given to the Apostles and to the entire Church. After his death, he was raised by the Father in the power of the Spirit.
Confirmation deepens our baptismal life that calls us to be missionary witnesses of Jesus Christ in our families, neighbourhoods, society, and the world. We receive the message of faith in a deeper and more intensive manner with great emphasis given to the person of Jesus Christ, who asked the Father to give the Holy Spirit to the Church for building up the community in loving service.
Sacred Scripture begins with the creation and union of man and woman and ends with “the wedding feast of the Lamb” (Rev 19:7, 9). Scripture often refers to marriage, its origin and purpose, the meaning God gave to it, and its renewal in the covenant made by Jesus with his Church.
The Sacrament of Marriage is a covenant, which is more than a contract. Covenant always expresses a relationship between persons. The marriage covenant refers to the relationship between the husband and wife, a permanent union of persons capable of knowing and loving each other and God. The celebration of marriage is also a liturgical act, appropriately held in a public liturgy at church. Catholics are urged to celebrate their marriage within the Eucharistic Liturgy.
From the moment of Jesus’ conception in the womb of Mary until his Resurrection, he was filled with the Holy Spirit. In biblical language, he was anointed by the Holy Spirit and thus established by God the Father as our high priest. As Risen Lord, he remains our high priest. . . . While all the baptised share in Christ’s priesthood, the ministerial priesthood shares this through the Sacrament of Holy Orders in a special way.
“Here I am, send me.” (Is 6:8)
Ordination to the priesthood is always a call and a gift from God. Christ reminded his Apostles that they needed to ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into the harvest. Those who seek priesthood respond generously to God’s call using the words of the prophet, “Here I am, send me” (Is 6:8). This call from God can be recognised and understood from the daily signs that disclose his will to those in charge of discerning the vocation of the candidate.
Not only does it [the Sacrament of Penance] free us from our sins but it also challenges us to have the same kind of compassion and forgiveness for those who sin against us. We are liberated to be forgivers. We obtain new insight into the words of the Prayer of St. Francis: “It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.”
Jesus entrusted the ministry of reconciliation to the Church. The Sacrament of Penance is God’s gift to us so that any sin committed after Baptism can be forgiven. In confession we have the opportunity to repent and recover the grace of friendship with God. It is a holy moment in which we place ourselves in his presence and honestly acknowledge our sins, especially mortal sins. With absolution, we are reconciled to God and the Church. The Sacrament helps us stay close to the truth that we cannot live without God. “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
In the Church’s Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, throughthe ministry of the priest, it is Jesus who touches the sick to heal them from sin – and sometimes even from physical ailment. His cures were signs of the arrival of the Kingdom of God. The core message of his healing tells us of his plan to conquer sin and death by his dying and rising.
The Rite of Anointing tells us there is no need to wait until a person is at the point of death to receive the Sacrament. A careful judgment about the serious nature of the illness is sufficient.
When the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is given, the hoped-for effect is that, if it be God’s will, the person be physically healed of illness. But even if there is no physical healing, the primary effect of the Sacrament is a spiritual healing by which the sick person receives the Holy Spirit’s gift of peace and courage to deal with the difficulties that accompany serious illness or the frailty of old age.

Sacramental Announcements
Our Community
MEET THE PARISH TEAMS
OUR LADY’S EASTWOOD PPC. ELECTED MEMBERS
MARILYN BLACKBURN. CHAIR
TRACEY WOOD
LEE SUMMERS
RICHARD FULLBROOK
LUKE BOYCE – POYSER
GEORGINA TAYLOR
ANNA FITZPATRICK
ESTHER FONGUE
OUR LADY’S ILKESTON PPC. ELECTED MEMBERS.
GIUSEPPE PRATI. CHAIR
ERIC MORLEY
PATRICA SUMMERFIELD
MAURICE WARD
CHRISTINE THORNHILL
JAKE SMITH
JOHN MELBOURNE
JANET MARTINAZZOLI
VIC GEORGE
ST JOHN’S STAPLEFORD PPC. ELECTED MEMBERS.
LISA SANDERSON – FRENCH. CHAIR
ALISON PECK
CLARE BAILEY
JOHN PEGG
LUISA PANCISI
MARY TAYLOR
ELIZABETH WILSON
JULIE STRAWBRIDGE
MOVING FORWARD TEAM MEMBERS
FR PAUL
MARILYN BLACKBURN
GUISIPPE PRATI
LISA SANDERSON-FRENCH
ALISON PECK
TRACEY WOOD
LUISA PANCISI
MAURICE WARD
JOHN STOCKS
PHIL LANGFIELD
PAT SUMMERFIELD
LEE SUMMERS
Our Lady of Good Counsel. Eastwood.
280, Nottingham Road. Eastwood. NG16 2AQ
Our Lady & Saint Thomas of Hereford. Ilkeston.
17 Nottingham Road. Ilkeston. DE7 5RF
St John the Evangelist. Stapleford
Midland Avenue. Stapleford. NG9 7BT
Schools
Our Parishes are linked to three schools. The Priory Catholic Academy, Eastwood. Saint Thomas Catholic Academy, Ilkeston and Saint John Houghton Catholic Academy, Ilkeston. The Diocesan Education Service, based in Mackworth, Derby.
Diocese
Our parish is part of the Catholic Diocese of Nottingham, which covers Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland and Nottinghamshire. Bishop Patrick is the 10th Bishop of Nottingham.
Youth Service
Nottingham Diocesan Catholic Youth Service serves the young people and their schools and parishes throughout the diocese. They offer a gap year programme for 18-25 year olds who live at The Briars where they run residential retreats for our young people.
CONTACT US
PARISH PRIEST. FR PAUL NEWMAN. paul.newman@dioceseofnottingham.uk
PARISH SECRETARY. MRS CARRIE LEIVERS. carrie.leivers@dioceseofnottingham.uk
WEBSITE/PRAYER LIST. MR LEE SUMMERS. lee.summers@dioceseofnottingham.uk
If for any reason you are unable to contact a member of the parish team, please do use the links below, if appropriate, to get the support you need. CLICK THE LINKS BELOW TO ACCESS THESE EXTERNAL SITES.
Samaritans | Mind | Cruse Bereavement | Childline | Eastwood Memory Cafe

OUR HALLS ARE PERFECT FOR PARTIES. ALL ARE EQUIPPED WITH LARGE HALL, FITTED KITCHEN, FRIDGE AND TEA/COFFEE MAKING FACILITIES. ALL HAVE DISABLED ACCESS WITH MEN, WOMEN AND DIASBLED TIOLETS WITH BABY CHANGING. ALL HAVE GENEROUS PARKING. EASTWOOD AND ILKESTON ALSO HAVE A SEPARATE ROOM WHICH CAN BE USED FOR MEETINGS. EASTWOOD ALSO HAS A LARGE GARDEN ACCESSED THROUGH THE FRENCH DOORS.
OUR PARISH HALLS HAVE A VARIETY OF GROUPS TO CATER FOR EVERYONE, FROM TODDLER GROUPS, ARTS, YOGA, CLUBBERSIZE AND FITNESS TO AA MEETINGS, SLIMMING WORLD AND DEMENTIA MEMORY CAFES.
HALL ENQUIRES AND BOOKINGS CAN BE MADE AT THE FOLLOWING EMAIL ADDRESSES.
ILKESTON. GEMMA AT, gemmaprati@me.com
EASTWOOD. LAURA AT, llloyd_hillbrow@yahoo.co.uk
STAPLEFORD. LISA AT, lisasf38@gmail.com