Our New Parish

With a little nervousness and with great hope in our hearts, I am pleased to announce that at the start of Advent this year the existing parishes of Guildford Deanery will be formed into the new Parish of Guildford.

Our church communities will continue to be the places in which the Gospel is proclaimed and the sacraments celebrated, and to be led by priests assigned to them, as at present.

This is the result of a long period of discernment and working together will help us to be more effective in our prayer, formation and mission, bringing life and hope to the world in which we live and especially to those among whom we live and work.

Bishop Richard will celebrate Mass at 6pm on Saturday 29th November at St Joseph’s Guildford at which the new parish will be entrusted to its team of priests and I will be inducted as their moderator. As many as are able from across the deanery are warmly encouraged to attend.

We extend this warm invitation to the Mass to our religious communities, to our brothers and sisters in the other churches, to our school communities and to leaders in civic society.

Since the Catholic presence was re-established in Surrey in the nineteenth-century it has grown and strengthened, to now include over three thousand people gathered each Sunday to celebrate Mass, with fourteen churches, seven Catholic schools, and four religious communities. Our predecessors would no doubt be amazed by its extent and vibrancy in our day. In our communities there are many adults and families seeking baptism and desiring to share in the life of the church, young people discerning their vocation and very many bearing witness in the everyday holiness of their lives.

Back in 2003, Archbishop Kevin McDonald asked what was the best time to be Catholic, and answered that it was now, because it is the time that has been given to us. The formation of our new parish marks a new stage in the life of the Catholic community in our part of the world. May God who has blessed our individual parishes with years of faith, service, and love help us to unite even more as one family and bear powerful witness to all around us.

Fr Jonathan How

Moderator-designate of the new Parish of Guildford