Sudbury Parish Profile by RCWestminster

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Parish Profile

Westminster Record | July 2014

St George, Sudbury: Medieval & Modern in Inspiration By Alex Balzanella

rriving on a quiet Thursday afternoon in Sudbury my expectation was to find the parish of St George in a similarly sleepy state. However, I noticed an image of the Blessed Sacrament framed just above the church door and all manner of people coming in and out. As I met Mgr Jeremy Fairhead in the middle of it all he told me that the parish was beginning its Quarant’Ore - 40 hours of devotion before the Blessed Sacrament - in preparation for Corpus Christi whilst holding its usual playgroup in the hall. “There’s always something going on here”, he says.

The parish of St George has a vibrant community of over 1,500 drawn from parts of Wembley as well as Sudbury. Mgr Jeremy and Assistant Fr Shaun Richards, ordained Priest in January, arrived together in Sudbury within a day of each other in September 2013 and both found the parish community very welcoming, with large numbers of parishioners travelling down to Our Lady of Victories, Kensington for Fr Shaun’s ordination. Since their arrival they have been aided by the experience of Pastoral Assistant Margaret Simon and joined by Rebecca Gormally, the new youth worker, in serving the Church in Sudbury. A Church inspired by beauty The church building itself is built under Gothic inspiration and so I was surprised to find out from Mgr Jeremy that it was only erected in 1926. Much of the design is due to the original Parish Priest, Fr Clement Lloyd Russell, who was keen on the imagery and architecture of preReformation England; this even extended to writing the Notices of the Week in medieval script! The Church has some particularly interesting statues and artwork that offer useful focal points for prayer. Above the West Door of the church there is a statue of St George, to whom the parish is dedicated, whilst within the Church there are further icons

of St George as well as a first class relic of the saint. The Lady Chapel is dedicated to Our Lady of Walsingham and houses an alabaster statue of Our Lady of Pity believed to have been rescued from Exeter Cathedral during the Reformation; whilst the church also houses a number of fine stained glass windows. ‘A generous parish’ Depicted in them is one of the parish groups which has existed since the early days of St George’s, the amateur allmale choir. Mgr Jeremy spoke to me about the character of the group: ‘It really is impressive, they have been going since the foundation of the parish and are one of only two amateur all-male Catholic choirs in the UK. It’s got a strong social element too; the group numbers 30, many of them fathers and sons, providing them with an opportunity to spend time together in the parish community.’ I asked Mgr Jeremy about other organisations that are popular in the parish and what characteristic best defines the community: ‘It’s a very generous parish, we’ve many active Cafod supporters, a Justice and Peace group and have recently raised £4,000 for Mary’s Meals. People are generous with their time too; there are a large number of Catechists in the parish, many who have given

time over a number of years.’ The parish also has Knights of St Columba, who were generous enough to give their statue of St Richard Reynolds, under whose patronage they are, to the newly-built Catholic schools in Twickenham. Helping young people develop within the Christian Community Mgr Jeremy and Fr Shaun are also keen that young people feel welcome and be engaged in the parish. St George’s Primary often welcomes them into the school which, in turn, often comes for celebrations in the church. As their Growing in Faith project, St George’s chose to employ a youth worker, Rebecca Gormally, to provide

direction and encourage activities in the parish that really appealed to the young. In the last six months the parish has formed both a new weekly youth club and an after-school club. Rebecca told me something of what they have done so far: ‘We have had a range of fun activities: water fights,

painting a big mural, football, holding bonfires as well as welcoming a number of speakers about their experience of being Christian. I hope that through youth ministry and events specifically for them they will become more open to the Church and develop within the Christian community. ‘We have just started the post-confirmation programme, which we began with a BBQ on 21 June and are planning to meet twice a month, once for a social event and once for catechesis; it is important that the events we host link to a wider programme that offers young people the faith of the Church.’ It was a joy to visit St George’s, a church inspired by a vision of beauty drawn from England’s Catholic past and so obviously now enthused with desire to live out the fullness of Catholic faith in witness to the surrounding community. Founded: 1924 Church built: 1926 Mass Times: (Sat 6.15pm), 8.30, 9.45 (Family), 11.15 (Solemn), 5.30pm (Sung) Address: 970 Harrow Road, Subbury, Wembley, HA0 2QE Telephone: 020 8904 0744 Website: http://parish.rcdow. org.uk/sudbury Page 5