St. Edmund Campion Parish, Maidenhead

Pastoral Area Update May 2024

Dear Friend and Parishioner,

We have now had three further meetings of clergy and nominated representatives from each church community, in our new expanded Parish formation, as part of the 10-year mission plan: You will be my Witnesses.

The Parish transition team is made up of 26 people from all the churches as well as representatives from St Joseph’s convent. We meet monthly, to explore and start to come up with strategies, approaches and how we think the new Holy Family Parish will work in future.

I mentioned in the first two editions of these updates, that we are working towards a paper for the Diocese that explains how we, the churches in Maidenhead, Twyford, Wargrave, Cookham and Culham, as well as the convent, want to come together to create the new Parish of The Holy Family.

As a reminder, each church in our new Parish retains their name, their identity locally and publicly. There is no intention at all to change this.

So, what have we been doing since February?

Our meetings have long agendas, and we have now carried out a lot of work:

1. We have created our Transition consultative groups focussed on all subjects that we need to consider. Each group has a leader and then representatives from each church. They will also reach out to nominated parishioners who also volunteer and support this area in their church.

   Their remit is to understand what is being currently done in each Church, understand the needs both locally and a new parish. They need to include people who are already active in these areas. They need to look at resources available. And finally, we need to develop a prioritised plan, timeline and resources.

   The groups are:

   Liturgy and Faith Development - Leader: Dcn Peter Kelly (St. Thomas More)

   They will cover

   • Altar preparation
   • Creative Liturgy
   • Music
   • Sacramental Preparation
   • Faith Programmes
   • Booklets
   • Seasonal Liturgies
   • Annual Retreats
   • Workshops
   • School Faith programmes

   Mission and Outreach – Leader: Fr. Liam Cummins / Fr. Kevin Hughes (Maidenhead)

   They will cover

   • Talks
   • Inspirational workshops for parish communities
   • Cafod
   • Missio
   • Alpha
   • RCIA
   • Local and Overseas Projects and commitments
   • Vision Group - St. Edmund Campion
   • CTiM (Churches together in Maidenhead & Twyford?)
   • Camp - family night and outdoor celebrations

   Parish Community Development – Leader: Noris Dukes (St. Edmund Campion)

   They will cover

   • Developing community and development
   • Coming together – Church community
   • SVP
   • Catenians
   • Knights of St. Columba Women’s Prayer Group
   • Bereavement Group
   • Sunday Welcome and Hospitality
   • House Visits and Care Homes/Hospitals
   • Homeless

   Communication – Leader: Gabrielle Williamson (St. Thomas More)

   They will cover

   • Effective Communication
   • Announcements in church
   • Newsletters
   • Parish communications
   • WhatsApp
   • Facebook
   • Website
   • Communication – regular/In person

   Governance & Administration – Leader: Mary Fraser. Finance: Rory Dunne (St. Edmund Campion)

   They will cover

   • PPCs
   • Estates
   • Maintenance
   • Finance
   • Parish Offices

   After the first joint meeting, it was agreed that we would split the meetings into Finance only and then PPC only – as there was too much to cover in 1 session.

2. We’ve created the "ground rules" around how each group will operate and how decisions will be made:
   1. We need a balance of representatives with all churches reasonably represented
   2. A reminder that nothing is agreed until it comes back to the Transition Group
   3. An approach where we consider what needs to be standardised, harmonised and localised
3. We’ve refined the posters showing parish representatives – these will be displayed in all churches
4. We have a Parish Mission and Vision. We agree that we are committed to Service, Outreach and Worship.

   Our Mission is: The Parish of the Holy Family, is a vibrant, welcoming and inclusive community gathered together in Christ to proclaim the Gospel, to bring about the Kingdom of God through celebration of the sacraments and by our words and actions.

5. We have created a poster to show Our Mission and Vision, so that everyone understands who we are and who we want to be.

Getting to know your representatives…

Please get to know your representatives. As you can see from all the groups, there is a lot to do – and they need your help. They are available after masses on Sunday for a coffee and a chat. They want to hear from you, so they can feedback your thoughts to our meetings.

If you don’t feel comfortable airing your opinions in this way, please write to me directly at: lcummins@portsmouthdiocese.org.uk and I will listen and respond. 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.

On some subjects, we may want to canvass opinion more widely through surveys or questionnaires. Please look out for my regular ‘You will be my Witnesses’ updates where I will give more information.

Any change is always difficult to accept, and I’m determined to make this journey as transparent and collaborative as I can for everyone in our wider Parish.

Father Liam

 

Parish of the Holy Family, made up of the following church communities:

• Maidenhead: St Edmund Campion, and St Joseph
• Cookham: St Elizabeth
• Twyford: St Thomas More
• Wargrave: Our Lady of Peace (currently closed)
• Culham: Christ the Redeemer
• Kiln Green: St John’s convent

You can read the previous letter (February 2024) here, and the first letter (November 2023) is here.

Edition 3 – 6 May 2024