Parish Profile
Westminster Record May 2012
Tring: “No one stays a stranger for long” Although surrounded by a generous amount of land, Tring remained as a postage stamp sized By Eddie Tulasiewicz church until a re-build in 1998 almost tripled its size. In effect, a new north-south nave was built with the altar re-positioned to stand in the centre of the old eastwest nave. The new church has included many of the original building’s bricks into its new walls, a decorative pattern of the old dark red bricks contrasting with the modern, more intensely red bricks. With the new church now complete, work is shortly to start on building a parish office which will join onto the existing sacristy. Hanging above the sanctuary is a Canon Vincent Berry large wooden cross with a richly painted carved figure of Jesus – Canon Vincent Berry welcomes His garments, deep colours of red me into Tring’s presbytery, a modern house next door to the Catholic church of Corpus Christi. Pointing to a faux leather tub seat he says in a deadpan voice: “And this is where the parish priest was murdered last year.” I’m momentarily at a loss for words. But then the interview is back on track as Canon Vincent explains that the presbytery and parish church were the locations for a 2011 episode of The Midsomer Murders. Tring, 45 minutes by train from Euston, is in the far west of Hertfordshire. It is part of a piece of the county which sticks up like a thumb into Buckinghamshire and is surrounded on three sides by the neighbouring county. This means that as well as worshippers from Westminster diocese, Canon The cross designed by the Vincent’s congregation also Benedictine Monastery of includes many people from the Sainte-Marie de la Garde Diocese of Northampton for whom Tring is the nearest Catholic parish. and blue, attracting not just the eye but taking worshippers’ Apostle of West Hertfordshire thoughts deep into a Tring’s original red brick church contemplation of the mystery of dates from 1912. It was built by Christ’s passion. The cross was Fr Henry Hardy, related to Captain commissioned by Canon Vincent Hardy who witnessed the death of from the Benedictine Monastery of Nelson, was known as the Apostle Sainte-Marie de la Garde, near of West Hertfordshire on account Agen, at the suggestion of the new of his active development of Mass church’s architect, Anthony centres and churches. Fr Hardy, Delarue. An electronic mechanism originally an Anglican who was allows the cross to be lowered to ordained a Catholic priest by the floor of the church for Cardinal Manning, was responsible veneration. for the building of churches The overall effect of the church’s in Harrow on the brick interior is warm and Hill, Rickmansworth, Boxmoor, welcoming. That’s also the way Berkhamsted and Tring. Canon Berry sees his parish and When he came to Tring, he the town of Tring. In his ministry, discovered that a number of young he is well supported by local women had lost their jobs in a parishioners and in particular by nearby mill. He bought some pastoral assistant Wendy Hinds. sewing machines plus a book of Before his appointment to Tring, instructions. He studied the book for two years she and a few and then taught the young women parishioners pretty much ran the how to use them, thus providing parish on their own as there was them with a source of income. then no priest in residence.
Tring, a small town of 19,000 people including eight nearby villages, has a different pace of life to Canon Berry’s previous central London parish of St Mary’s, Cadogan Street in Chelsea. No one stays a stranger for Pastoral long with Assistant ecumenical Wendy Hinds links playing an important role in fostering friendship. “We have a very strong Churches Together in Tring” says Canon Vincent. “One Anglican parish with five churches, three Baptist churches, a Methodist Church and until last year the Salvation Army. On Good Friday our Walk of Witness went from the Methodist Church all the way down the High Street to the Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul. The heavy cross needing four to six people to carry it.” Also important to the work and mission of the Catholic Church is a strong local Justice and Peace group. “The Justice and Peace Group is affiliated to Churches Together, so there are Anglicans, Methodists and Baptists as well as Catholics. We are linked up to projects in Dacorum Borough Council, including Dacorum Emergency Night Shelter which recently set up a food bank. People bring food to church which is then sent off to the Night Shelter to distribute; in six months we have helped around 600 people.”
Catholic education The practical issues faced by parishioners are very different to those of a London parish. Few parishioners live close enough to walk to church, so when there was snow in February many people couldn’t get to church. Getting to a Catholic school is also much harder. Although Tring has 20 baptisms a year, almost enough to supply a small local school, the nearest Catholic primary school is in Berkhamsted, seven miles away. Until recently, subsidised transport was provided by Hertfordshire County Council to allow children to make the journey, but from autumn 2012 all financial support for school transport will cease. Towards the end of our interview, I discover that 2012 is the year of Canon Vincent’s Golden Jubilee. I ask if he has any advice for men embarking on a life of priesthood. Pausing for a moment, he says: “You come out of seminary and think you know everything, you are fully knowledgeable in Canon Law, Dogma, Scripture etc. You
Parish church of Corpus Christi, Tring
think you know everything and how things are meant to be done. I've spent the last 50 years discovering how little I really knew.” He adds that the demands on a priest are today probably greater than they have ever been, especially as people’s expectations are so much higher. In the end, however, what counts is the great support people give. He recalls with humility the words of one former parishioner who told him: “You have given us so much more than we have given you.” As well as a beautiful church and a loyal and supportive parish, there are many other blessings to being a priest in Tring. They include closeness to the beauty of God’s creation. Woods full of bluebells in Spring, canalside walks and the nearby 233 metre high Ivinghoe Beacon, which later this year will be the site of a beacon to mark Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee. Since the death two years ago of Petroc, his beloved King Charles spaniel, Canon Vincent has not had the incentive to go on as
many country walks as he would have liked. But thanks to a parishioner, that’s all set to change. “An almost identical dog is coming my way. A lady in the parish phoned me up and asked: 'Are you still thinking of getting a new dog'? She told me that a six year old dog, Ellie, the spitting image of my old black and tan King Charles will shortly become available. “
Devoted to God Maybe after the Tring episode of Midsomer Murders, it’s time for the BBC to rename their One Man and a Dog programme, One Priest and a Dog and start filming with Canon Berry. They would be certain of a very warm welcome and the resulting portrait of a fulfilled life devoted to God and serving others would be certain to encourage a new generation of men considering a vocation to the priesthood. Mass Times: Sunday 8.30am 10.30am, (Sat 6pm) Tel: 01442 823161. Email: tring@rcdow.org.uk.