Our aim at St Augustine’s is active participation in our parish worship by as many people as possible, each in his or her own distinctive way. These are the main ministries exercised as a service to the whole parish community in our worship and our teaching of the faith:

Catechists

St Augustine’s has a large group of dedicated catechists who are responsible for many aspects of parish life. On a rota basis, some lead the Children’s Liturgy during the first half of the Sunday 9.30 Mass, taking groups of children of different ages to our three meeting rooms for their own reflection on the Bible and prayer. Others are responsible for Baptism preparation for parents, for the 8-month First Communion programme and the 5-month Confirmation programme, for the R.C.I.A. process and for our annual Marriage Preparation Day. We are always looking for suitable catechists to join the various teams, and for others to develop a programme for young people at non-Catholic schools.

Altar Servers (Guild of St Stephen)

From the September after they made their First Holy Communion, children aged 8-11, both boys and girls, are welcome to join our junior altar servers. Young people at secondary school are invited to join our senior servers. See one of the priests or deacons. Your ministry is a very important one for the smooth celebration of Mass.

Ministers of the Word (Readers)

Those who come forward to read the Scriptures at Mass have a central role in our worship. They speak God’s word to his people. Through them, God’s saving message given through the prophets, St Paul, and other writers, reaches us today and challenges our lives. If you were a reader in your previous parish and would like to continue this ministry here, please see one of the priests. There is a monthly rota prepared from our parish office. Each year on Bible Sunday in December, all of our Sunday readers are formally renewed in their commissioning.

Lay Ministers of Holy Communion

At St Augustine’s, Communion under both kinds (under the form of bread and wine) is given at every Mass. This means that we need a large number of lay ministers who assist the priests and deacons to distribute the sacrament. Many of these ministers also take Holy Communion to our large number of sick and housebound parishioners each week, ideally from Mass itself. This ministry is through personal invitation from the parish priest, but if you were a commissioned minister in your last parish, and would like to continue here, please let us know.

Weekday Liturgy Coordinators

Each weekday Mass has a lay person whose role is to choose the readers, ministers of Communion and Offertory bearers for that Mass.

Our Parish Choirs

We have four choirs in our parish, each of which would warmly welcome new singers and instrumentalists. Give your name to one of the priests or deacons if you are interested.

The Traditional Choir sings at the 11.15 a.m. Mass on Sundays, leading the congregation in traditional hymns and simple plainsong settings of the Kyrie, Alleluia, Sanctus and Agnus Dei, as well as singing plainsong, polyphony and anthems at the Presentation of the Gifts or Communion. The choir practices every Wednesday evening at 8.00 in the church. Tenors and basses would be especially welcome!

The Music Group sings at the Family Mass at 9.30 a.m. on Sundays, leading the congregation in a variety of contemporary church music. Not only singers but also instrumentalists will be very welcome. The choir practices on Thursday evenings at 8.00 in the church.

The Taize music group leads the music at our monthly candlelight Mass at 5.45 p.m. on Sunday with songs from the Taize Community. This is a young people’s group, and new members from secondary school and young adults are most welcome - both to sing and to play instruments.

The Youth Mass Band leads the singing at our monthly Youth Mass at 5.45 p.m. on Sundays. The young people themselves asked for more 'bouncy' hymns. Young adults and anyone at secondary school is very welcome to join.

Flower Guild

Church Cleaners

No matter how beautiful the worship and splendid the singing, the state of the church makes a real difference to our parish celebration of Mass from week to week. Our team of church cleaners, working on a rota basis, gathers on Wednesday mornings to clean and tidy the church and the porch. Others clean the brass and the votive candle stands. Such dedicated care for our church is an important service to our community. If you would be happy to help, please give your name to the parish office.