Westminster Record November 2009
Parish Profile Bishops Stortford: Focused on the future separately, [at which point] we’ll say to each other, ‘Hang on - let’s do them together!’”
Street Pastors It would appear that this ecumenical project is synonymous with the ecumenical work taking place throughout all of Bishops Stortford. Fr Eddie explains how every six weeks all the Christian ministers of the town get together over lunch to talk about their different pastoral projects and share ideas.
Looking towards the back of St Joseph and The English Martyrs
By Patrick Daly Upon walking into St Joseph’s parish church in Bishops Stortford, you quickly get the impression that this is a bustling community. The notice boards in the small stone entrance to the church demonstrate an array of diverse activity going on in the church. Inside the Church, I am struck by the healthy number of parishioners that stream in to visit the church during the day so as to pray or just to have a quiet moment. Canon Eddie Matthews, parish priest for six years, remarked that the parish is very fortunate to have a skilled and generous congregation. “I’ve been a priest now for 47 years and I can truthfully say in that time that I’ve never been in a parish before that has such a lively laity as here.” That liveliness and activity is certainly reflected in the sheer number of groups that are active in St Joseph’s. These groups include; a St Vincent de Paul group, an Inter-faith group, a group for ‘twenty-something’s’, a group of men that meet and socialise under the banner of The Knights of St Columba, and a Catholic Women’s League group.
The last one-hundred years The long history of St Joseph’s is no doubt something that has provided the stable roots for such a strong community to develop. There has been a Catholic community in Bishops Stortford since 1896 when five Sisters of St Mary of Namur who, with encouragement from the then Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Vaughan, arrived to start a mission and open a school for Catholic girls. Saint
Joseph’s church was formally consecrated in 1906 after the Redemptorists Order managed to acquire a large enough site for the building in 1903. The parish celebrated its centenary three years ago, marked by a Solemn Mass which was presided over by Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor and, the much-loved, Bishop Jim O’Brien.
St Joseph and The English Martyrs
While reaching its one hundredth anniversary must be considered an achievement in its own right, Bishops Stortford Parish has its eyes firmly focused on future successes. Currently, on a site behind the parish church building, a £1.3 million ecumenical building project is taking place. The Anglican Church of St Michael’s has teamed up with St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church to fund and build a shared facility for both the churches to use. The centre, named The Windhill Churches Centre, will provide much needed extra accommodation for the churches and their thriving congregations. Canon Eddie Matthews explained that he feels that the ecumenical development of sharing of a building will lead to the raising up of joint ideas. He said, “Once two churches get together on a major project like we have, I am sure that we will find ourselves doing things in that centre
But it doesn’t just stop with the clergy. At the back of the church is a large board advertising ‘Street Pastors’. These Street Pastors are a group of specially trained lay Christians from different denomination who go out together on a Friday and Saturday night and patrol the streets of Bishops Stortford. Their main aim is to be a friendly face for young people that are out drinking and socialising in the local pubs and clubs and to help them to get home if need be. Unsurprisingly, I am told that this form of out-reach is “full of fruitful conversations”, while the street pastors talk of how lovely it is to be greeted with “Oh good! There’s a Street Pastor!” by some of the youngsters. St Joseph’s parish is very active with the Street Pastors program and is currently looking to recruit more volunteers on a Friday and Saturday night. This inclusive attitude of the parish extends past the Christian community as well. For example, a group called Emotions Anonymous is open to all those who have experienced emotional turmoil in their lives, or who are close to someone who is going through emotional strain. This group allows both Christians and nonChristians in such a position to come together and support each other in a confidential environment.
The next one-hundred years The ecumenical nature of its ideas clearly depicts how forward thinking the parish of St Joseph’s is. While it thrives with Catholic groups and activities, it has the confidence to go out and embrace the wider community. When I ask Canon Eddie if he has any plans for the future, he confides that, “My little dream, when we’ve got our joint parish centre together, is to hold a joint Alpha course (for both Catholics and Anglicans).” It is a bold statement that demonstrates a quiet confidence that will aptly prepare the parish for the challenges of the next one-hundred years
Canon Eddie Matthews (centre) at the start of construction for the Windhill Centre