Get Involved In The Parish
As a parish, we are guided by our vision statement:
"Guided by the Gospel we seek to deepen our love and knowledge of God. We reach out in care and friendship to each other and to those in need, striving to be a community filled with faith, hope, and love."
We have a Pastoral Council, which supports the clergy and the work of five Parish groups: Youth; Outreach; Social; Formation; Spiritual.
Parishioners are also involved as Catechists, Eucharistic ministers, readers, choristers, altar servers, as meeter-greeters at Mass and in many other ways...
In all this good work, we welcome new volunteers, so you'll find details of many parish groups below, and how you can become involved.
Music in the Church
Music plays a vital part of our liturgical life in the Parish. There has been a fine tradition of music making of a high standard over a number of years.
In our ever increasingly busy lives, music can often be very useful in illuminating those elements of our human feelings and spirituality that are fleeting, complex and difficult to understand. Music can help people to symbolically articulate their response to an experience or an emotion and to share their observations with others.
9.45 a.m – Family Mass
The worship is led by a group of instrumentalists and singers. Here the emphasis is on informal music making. The group also encourages the many children who attend this service to join in!
11.00 a.m – Sung Mass
Led by a mixed choir of adult voices, here the worship focuses on the fine tradition of Catholic music from the 16th - 18th Century. As well as English masses and Plainchant, the choir frequently sing Mass settings by Haydn and Mozart.
The choir rehearses each Sunday during term time from 9.00 a.m to 10.45 a.m. Rehearsals provide education, personal development and improvement through carefully chosen technical exercises for improved voice production and a range of repertoire selected to stretch perceived limits.
The choir also provides music for the major feasts.
12.15 p.m - Mass with Cantors and Organ
This Mass is led by a Cantor and a small group of singers accompanied by the organ. A simple English plainchant setting of the mass is sung alongside traditional and contemporary hymns.
6.30 p.m - Mass with Music Group
This mass is led by a small group of singers accompanied by piano and instrumentalists. The focus is on the best of old and new music within the established repertoire.
Flower arranging and Church cleaning
The Church always looks beautiful, thanks to the hard work of a dedicated band of volunteers. They work on a rota basis and more hands are always needed!
Readers
The parish needs Readers for the Mass. The only qualification required is to be a Catholic and Confirmed, together with undergoing brief training and suitability.
Meeter-greeters
This is one of the easiest ways to get involved in the life of the parish - and meet lots of people! We have a team of meeter-greeters who welcome parishioners and visitors to weekend Masses, as well as offering assistance to those that need it. All that's needed are a friendly demeanour and getting to Mass a bit early. Contact Matthew Rock on matthewjrock@gmail.com to join the team.
Foodbank and Collections
Every month we have a collection for a local Foodbank, helping families and individuals in crisis. We appreciate your donations, as well as volunteers to drive the food to Kensington.
