St Anthony of Padua

Due to emergency electrical work the car park will be closed from  Monday 14th October to Saturday 19th October. The church and the hall will be accessible by foot from the side entrance by the hall. We apologise for any inconvenience.

The Forms for the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Holy Communion for the Year 2019/2020 are at the back of the church for parents to pick up and complete for their children. All completed forms should then be returned to the Parish Office on or before the 30th September 2019.

For many years Maddie Carvell has been one of St Anthony’s representatives on the Churches Together for Marston and Northway group (Kathryn Hopkins being the other), but she has now decided to step down. Fr Pius and the Pastoral Council would like to thank her for all her hard work in this important ecumenical role, and the parish is  now looking for a volunteer to replace her on the committee and as parish organiser of the World Day of Prayer (formerly Women’s World Day of Prayer).  For further information please contact Kathryn, or Maddie.

After many years of running the repository (shop), Veronica Hanlon has decided to step down from this duty. Fr Pius would like to thank her for the tremendous service that she has provided to the parish and he is now looking for one or two people to take over the shop on Sundays (Caroline Gordon-Duff will continue to run it at the Vigil Mass). If no volunteers come forward then sadly it will have to close. For further information please contact either Fr Pius or Veronica. Mass cards are always available for purchase from the sacristy. 

Our next Ecumenical Service at Marston URC, 352 Marston Road. All welcome. This is particularly suitable for those living with dementia or any special need and will be followed by refreshments, activities and fellowship. For information or offers of help contact Val Stolton (246157) or Revd Pauline Main (513581).

Marriage and Family Life Archdiocese of Birmingham has organised the following weekends for couples preparing for marriage and for marriage enrichment:

• Engaged Encounter Weekend-  12th-13th October.  The Dormer Conference Centre, Leamington Spa.
• Marriage Encounter Weekend-  22nd-24th November. Ibis Hotel, Rugby.

For more information about Marriage Encounter visit their website https://wwme.org.uk/ or email bookings@wwme.org.uk

The Archdiocese will be providing training sessions for parishes regarding finance, property, GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and safeguarding. It is anticipated that each of the speakers will be available for questions over lunch. Lunch and coffee will be provided. The session in Oxford will be held as follow:

Saturday 13th July 2019 at the Parish of Our Lady Help of Christians, Oxford. Address: 59 Hollow Way, Cowley, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX4 2ND.

If you would like to attend the training session please confirm your attendance in advance by contacting the Property Administrator, Lewis Massey, at lewis.massey@rc-birmingham.org

All who volunteer, or contribute to groups, in the parish are warmly invited to a meeting to discuss preparing for the city-wide Catholic Mission in 2020. Representatives from the Deanery and Diocese will discuss with parishioners how we might best contribute to this, both as a parish and as part of the wider Deanery. The meeting will be held on Thursday 6^th June at 7.30pm, in the parish hall – if you volunteer in any way do come along!

The next Pastoral Council meeting is on Wednesday 8th May. Please send any agenda items to Fr Pius or to jane.kennett@goglemail.com by 7^th May.

Vacancy: Deputy Headteacher at St. Gregory the Great Catholic School, closing date for application: 13^th May 2019, 9am. More information can be found on the board at the back of the church. Informal visits are encouraged by arrangement by contacting Rosemary Gelder, Telephone 01865 749933 ext 206 or email principalsgtg@dbmac.org.uk.