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Ministries

Eucharistic Ministry

The active participation in the celebration of the Eucharist and sharing in the Table of the Lord under both kinds of Bread and Wine requires great many ministers, sometimes as many as seven at one Mass. In addition there are also the ministers who take out Communion to the sick and housebound. We have a rota of some fifty ministers and we could have twice as many. In our parish the ministers do not wear distinctive insignia of their office because it is a ministry of service and the ministers are taken from the congregation. Ministers renew their commitment annually and from time to time they attend a Day of Recollection.

Reading Ministry

At one time the priest who celebrated Mass would read everything and no other voice was heard in the Liturgy. Now we have three readers at every one of the five Sunday Masses - fifteen readers every weekend. It is good to have a different reader again for the Prayer of the Faithful. The more people are involved in the celebration, the more we realize that the Community is celebrating and the Community is the main celebrant.

Music Ministry

The 9.30am Choir

We sing on the second and fourth Sunday of each month. Our practices are usually at 7.30pm on the first Friday of each month in the choir loft at the back of the church. We also meet half an hour before the Folk Masses begin to run through the hymns. We sing mainly folk hymns. At present we have a guitarist and a violinist as well as our singers. New members, musicians and singers, are very welcome.

The 11am Choir

The choir at the 11am Mass is friendly and committed. We are sufficiently large to sing four part motets and anthems on Feastdays, and we are always happy to have new members.
We sing a variety of music from plainchant(for our monthly Latin Mass) through to well-known hymns both ancient and modern, well written and simple to sing.
We have a small J W Walker organ (built in 1964) and a first class organist to accompany the choir.

Welcoming Ministry

First impressions are important. The welcoming ministry present the Parish Community. In fact they are the open door for newcomers.

Apart from giving a genuine welcome they help people in and help them feel part of the liturgy and the congregation.

The welcoming ministry makes them feel at home by explaining about the church and the priests - providing them with the books they need and pointing out where things are and introducing them to other members of the congregation and the priest.

Usualy it only takes a few minutes but it makes all the difference. It shows that as a parish we care for everyone and that we value everyone's presence in our midst. We are brothers and sisters and as one family we share the liturgy.