Celebrating our Volunteers
Our Parish relies on volunteers. Fr Bill recognised this by writing to each volunteer thanking them for their valuable contribution to St Joseph’s Parish Life. He went on to say “your time and support which you give freely are a perfect example of parish life in action. At St Joseph’s, we want to continue to create a vibrant community with faith at our heart and a community that represents and celebrates the cultural diversity so evident at our Masses”. To deliver this goal we continue to encourage Parishioners to become more involved in the life of their church. As you know, giving a little time can help in so many ways.
Fr Bill’s letter included an invitation to a Celebration of Volunteers event held on the afternoon of Saturday 15 March in the church hall. It was an opportunity to meet with other volunteers in the Parish and share some drinks and treats. More than 80 volunteers turned up and consumed a large quantity of food beautifully prepared by…. volunteers. Wine and soft drinks were soon flowing and the room was buzzing with conversation. The Christmas mulled wine made yet another appearance, although there were few takers. I am pleased to report we are down to our last few bottles.
Once everyone had arrived and made themselves at home Harvey said a few words on behalf of the Coordination Team, who had organised the event. He introduced Fr Simon who gave a moving speech describing how his return to Epsom felt like “coming home”. He talked about the talents we all have and the importance of sharing them for the good of the Parish. The way we find God in our lives and in our work and the importance of recognising it and making time for God and for each other. We ended this uplifting talk with a prayer.
Fr Bill had wanted to attend but with the sad news of his brother Tom passing, he had travelled to Ireland for the funeral. We all passed on our thoughts and prayers for Fr Bill and his family.
After a couple of hours, people went their different ways. Everyone seemed to have a smile on their face as they departed. Feedback suggests everyone enjoyed themselves and the plan is to repeat the event later this year.
If you have read this and want to volunteer, please do! Contact the parish office and help in any way you can!
Fr Simon and Coordination Team
Celebration with New Parishioners
On Sunday 2 February, we held a celebration with our new parishioners after the 10.30 Mass. New parishioners were welcomed in the hall, together with more familiar faces: about 100 people in total! Cheese and wine was on offer, together with non-alcoholic options. We even brought out our seemingly endless stock of Christmas mulled wine, which went down a treat (speaking personally).
The event was organised by our Coordination Team. As a reminder, the team was created by Fr Bill to help deliver our Statement of Aspirations. Fr Bill welcomed new parishioners and shared his recollections of a rather ‘over the top’ approach to introductions in the USA. Ours, he said, would be heartfelt but lower key! He introduced Harvey Bradshaw, who currently chairs the team. Harvey welcomed everyone and described the desire of the team to create a vibrant culture of faith, celebrating and fully involving all the cultures we have in our parish.
The team introduced themselves. As a reminder, they are:
- Mary Gorton leading faith development;
- Neil Whitmore leading sacramental development;
- Mary Burke leading welcomers and liturgy;
- John Mortimer leading social activities;
- Theresa Park leading outreach;
- Thomas Andrews leading youth.;
The key message to everyone was ‘get involved in your parish’. We can only thrive if people help. Please contact the parish office and help in any way you can!
National Marriage Week 7th to 14th February
For those already married…..
On Saturday 8th February why not come and be part of a half-day of events to celebrate your marriage and to share some couple-time with each other?
Date: Saturday 8th February 2025
Time and place:
2pm – 5pm in the Chatterton Room – a Marriage retreat, taking time out together from the busyness of life to celebrate your relationship, to listen and talk to each other, to relax and enjoy yourselves. Including tea and cake!
5:30pm Mass with renewal of Marriage Vows followed by:
After Mass – 7:30pm Wine and nibbles in the Hall.
To register for the Marriage Retreat please email teresaweeks@hotmail.co.uk
(Places limited by the size of the room to 12 couples)
Mass and refreshments open to all.
Organised by Marriage Care and the Parish Coordination Team.
What just happened at the Synod?
On Friday 10th November, Austen Ivereigh, the well-known writer on Catholic affairs and papal biographer, came to visit us to share his reflections on the recent Synod gathering in Rome. This meeting of the global Church happened throughout October. Austen had a key role as one of the ‘scribes’ tasked with recording emerging thoughts and themes.
More than 100 parishioners and visitors from nearby parishes enjoyed listening to Austen’s engaging talk. This was followed by an opportunity for all present to ask questions and add their own observations.
Austen explained that the role women play in the Church is becoming one of the Synod’s most important focuses. Although female ordination is not within the remit of the current Synod, urgent attention is being given to how women can play a bigger part in the life of the Church, including its leadership.
Austen also highlighted three points:
- The Church can create new ministries and these can be used to empower people to contribute more fully to the mission given to us by Jesus. This mission must be central to all we do: ‘The Church does not have a mission – the mission has a Church.’
- This mission increasingly takes place in the digital space, especially for younger people. The Church already has a presence online but this needs to grow.
- The Synodal process has shown us the importance of listening to help us discern the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Future decision-making in the Church should always begin with listening, as we endeavour to become a truly Synodal Church.
The current Synod on Synodality concludes with a second gathering in Rome in October 2024. In the meantime, we are all encouraged to read and reflect upon the synthesis from the recent meeting. As parishes do this, we are encouraged to try new approaches and gain experience that can be shared with the Synod gathering next year.
You can see Austen’s talk below or on our YouTube channel here (although unfortunately the audio does not begin until about 14 minutes).