St. Edmund Campion Church

Pastoral Area Update May 2025

The Holy Family Parish will launch at Pentecost – 8^th June 2025

Dear Friend and Parishioner,

I’m delighted to share with you that we are ready to launch our new Parish – The Holy Family, made up of St. Josephs, St. Elizabeths, St. Edmund Campion and St. Thomas More, Our Lady of Peace, as well as Culham Chapel and St. John’s convent, which also reside in our Parish and who we work with, to spread the word of God. Our new expanded Parish formation, is part of the 10-year mission plan: 'You will be my Witnesses' and we are on track to now focus our attention on Evangelisation and Formation across our Parish. More about this in future updates from me!

So, what happens on Pentecost Sunday?

What else is happening?

We will have a new Holy Family Parish website, which is in the final stages of creation as I type and which will launch on Pentecost weekend. Here you will find all the information you need about the new parish, our Sacraments, how we will worship together, our Parish Groups and charity, with lots more information about our parish, so that we can start to share more and get to know each other more meaningfully in prayer, service and events.

Our existing church websites will start to be phased out.

We are currently reviewing our church signage, to be more visible and welcoming at the roadside, we expect this to start being erected in June/July.

With the creation of our new Parish Pastoral Committee and Parish Finance Committee (see poster in your church for more details), we are building a strong and sustainable leadership function for our Parish, to streamline, harmonise and align all our activities in line with our Parish Vision:

• Service – accepting and deepening God's presence in all aspects of our lives, proclaiming the Word of God through what we say, what we do and who we are.
• Outreach – to strive for the common good by working in our communities with those in need.
• Worship – to give thanks to God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for all God has given us, and developing our strength of faith.

We will also be standing down our fabulous Transition Group, who have worked tirelessly for the past 2 years, to work out what had to be done (with little guidance!) and find pragmatic ways to achieve the creation of the Parish and the approval of the Diocese. The last Transition Group meeting will be in June, when all responsibilities for the "You will be my Witnesses" mission plan will transfer to the Parish Pastoral Committee.

Please join me in a Big thank you to the Transition Group…

They have been instrumental in making decisions, providing solutions, rolling their sleeves up and fulfilling the long administrative checklist from the Diocese, all in good humour, in their own time and with a common goal to make the very best new Parish in Maidenhead and Twyford.

So thank you to:

• St. Josephs: Grant Price, Senalda Rodrigues, Temi Ajumobi, Maria Beasley and Teresa Faria
• St. Elizabeths: Andrew Strowbridge and Mary-Lou Kellaway
• St. Edmund Campion: Deborah Woodward, Jim McGovern, Rory Dunne, Elvira Nomondo, Noris Dukes and Jen Mulvaney
• St. Thomas More: Peter Needham, Gabrielle Williamson, Quentin Knowlson, Duncan Hay, Kieran Jolly, Deacons Peter Kelly and Mike Jackson
• St. Johns Convent: Sr. Veronica, Peter Lawes and Peter Curtis

It is worth pointing out at this time, that whilst we will be the third new parish in the Diocese to launch, the first two were smaller and already working closely. We are the first "complex" and larger Parish to come together. Something that Bishop Phillip has already recognised and expressed his thanks for. Other parishes have also approached us to share our learnings.

There have also been some wonderful surprises that we have had in the last 2 years. Did you know:

• That CAFOD was founded in 1960, by parishioners in St. Elizabeths in Cookham when funds from the Family Fast Day were used to support a project in Dominica. This then extended into Maidenhead and through our global church network, is now one of the largest in the world!
• We have over 10 separate ministries, where our parishioners offer their time to help to make sure that our masses and sacraments are vibrant, meaningful and heartfelt
• That we have nearly 20 Parish Groups in our New Parish, based in our church communities and offering a warm, rich welcome. Look out for these groups and how to join then on our new website
• We have nearly 10 separate local charities all operating within our parish, from SVP to Knights of St. Columba, W.O.R.K, Churches Together, the Catenians and CAFOD as well as our very own Mill Hill Missionaries and red boxes. Again more details to follow on our new website as to how to get involved.

There are so many ways to use your special talents to join us and help build our new Parish!

Keep talking to your representatives on the new Parish Pastoral Committee…

We have 8 more years for Evangelising and Formation to meet the "You will be my Witnesses" mission plan. And we still need your help and support.

The most important thing for me – is that we, the faithful, in all our churches feel included, listened to and heard. This is not being done to you, but with you.

I intend to continue to update you, as we move through each phase of our ‘You will be my Witnesses’ journey.

Any change is always difficult to accept and we rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us always in our deliberations and faith-journey, so I’m determined to continue to make this journey as transparent and collaborative as I can for everyone in our new Parish.

Father Liam, Parish Priest, Parish of the Holy Family in Maidenhead and Twyford

 

You can read the previous letter here (March 2025) and the earlier letters here (December 2024), here (October 2024), here (May 2024), here (February 2024), and here (November 2023).

Edition 7 – 25 May 2025