On Monday 9th September 2024 students in Years 13 and 10 were blessed with a visit from a Royal Navy Catholic Chaplain to explore the amazing vocation of military chaplaincy and explore the role of faith in the Royal Navy.

Fr. Peter explored his own vocation story and was asked stimulating questions ranging from the morality of war, why does God allow evil in the world and can a war ever truly be classed as morally justifiable.

We are truly grateful to Fr. Peter and the Royal Navy Chaplains department for their support and care for our young people.

God bless and thank you.

On Wednesday 10th July 2024, students from St. Joseph’s had the privilege of serving the Altar for the Year 6 South Tyneside leavers Mass for the Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust.

Students served with pride, confidence, enthusiasm and passion and were especially proud to be serving for Fr. Adrian’s final Mass at St. James’ RC church.

We are really proud of the hard work, dedication and confidence of these students who have been training in this amazing liturgical ministry and we thank them for their time and devotion to their faith and our parish community.

God bless.

On Tuesday 9th July 2024, RE students in year 9 had the opportunity to attend an exciting conference ran by the world-famous ethicist Dr. Peter Vardy.

The conference looked at a fascinating range of philosophical, theological and ethical topics ranging from the existence of God, the purpose of evil and suffering in the world, war and ethical issues in the contemporary world and students were given a flavour of what they can study at KS5 and at undergraduate level.

Students had the opportunity to hear these lectures and discuss their learning with students from across the wider-diocese.

We are very grateful to Our Lady and St. Bede’s in Stockton for hosting the conference too.

This morning all of year 7 gathered together in St. James’ church to celebrate the end of their spiritual journey through year 7 at St. Joseph’s.

The Mass was celebrated by the amazing Fr. Adrian Dixon who has ministered to all our students through their spiritual journeys here at sunny St. Joseph’s. Students undertook liturgical Ministeries like Altar serving with passion and confidence, read beautifully and lead thought-provoking prayers.

We were also led in beautiful liturgical music by the choir and musicians. The theme of the Mass was “What does it profit someone to gain the whole world and suffer the loss of their own soul? For what can someone give in return for their soul?”. We reflected upon keeping Christ at the centre of everything we do and being true to who God called us to be.

Thank you for all involved and for Fr. Adrian for his constant spiritual support.

God bless.

This week we were blessed with a second visit in two weeks by a fantastic group of American Christian interns who came in to work with our fabulous Y7 and Y10 students in RE.

Students had the opportunity to ask questions about their faith, their favourite scripture passage, their culture and even their opinion on Greggs! Students had debates on philosophical and ethical topics ranging from the purpose of suffering and the existence of God through to issues of stewardship and religion and society.

We are really thankful for the time and devotion of these students to sharing their faith with our students. Next week they will be returning to work with Y12s and Y8s. God bless and thanks again to Hope Family Church for facilitating this.

On Tuesday 11th June 2024 we were blessed with a visit by Fr. Saji from Jarrow to talk about his life and his vocation as a priest.

Fr. Saji explored the unique vocation as a priest from Kerala in India and the Catholic order that he belongs to. Students asked thought-provoking questions to Fr. Saji ranging from beliefs about God and the creation of the universe, vocations, his hobbies and interests and life as a priest.

We are truly grateful for the fantastic support of Fr. Saji and all the priests of the parish who come in to support us.

God bless and thank you Fr. Saji.

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