Welcome to

St Joseph’s Roman

Catholic Church

Monks Kirby

Mass Times: Sunday morning 9:15, with children’s liturgy Monday 18:30, Tuesday 10:00, Wednesday 18:30, Friday 19:00

Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament Friday 18:30 Introduction Fr Matthew Pittam So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Romans 12:5

Welcome to St Joseph’s Church. Often St Joseph’s is described as a family where people can find a sense of belonging, fellowship and growth in faith. We are a community which cares for each other but also one which seeks to be missional through our wide variety of activities. In many ways St Joseph’s ‘punches above its weight’ and has a church life which might not always be found in a much larger parish. This gives St Joseph’s a real sense of purpose and a focus upon the work of evangelisation. The parish serves an area known locally as the Revel. Within this area, St Joseph’s enjoys a strong profile and is well respected as part of the community. We enjoy good links with the local school and all of the other local Churches. Increased involvement in the school over the last few years has helped develop links with local families and those who are new to the area. We are very proud of the Catholic provision which continues to take place within the school.

For many years we have provided chaplaincy to the two very large care and nursing homes within the parish. This extends beyond merely visiting Catholics and we are often called upon to support and provide spiritual care to a wide variety of residents, which also includes visiting at special times of the year and conducting services. In addition, we have very strong links to the local Gateway Club for adults with learning disabilities who visit St Joseph’s at least twice a each year for special services.

Lay involvement in St Joseph’s is excellent and developing. A very large proportion of the community are actively engaged in a number of areas of Church life, which are described further within this booklet. On the back of the booklet is a list of names for key contacts. We still maintain an (almost) daily Mass which has a small and faithful group of supporters. Most Masses are now in the evening which reflects that many of our community are commuters. Each Friday Mass is preceded by Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and is well attended. We look forward to welcoming you to our parish and getting to know you.

The Parish-in-Council Liz Crosskey ‘Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it.’ 1Corinthians 12:27

Every member of the congregation of St Joseph is welcome to come to Parish-in-Council meetings. We hold meetings about four times a year to discuss plans for both the secular and spiritual life of the parish. Such diverse items as ideas for major building refurbishments, to the date of a barbeque, or the formation of a new prayer group, to the altar servers’ outing to a bowling alley are discussed. In this way, every member of the parish can have their say, and every member’s skill can be used for the common good. Meetings open and close with a prayer.

Minutes are taken and typed up. These are available electronically, on the church bulletin board and on paper. Please ask if you wish to have a copy. Decisions regarding dates are put into the parish diary on the table in the porch. You can also sponsor the sanctuary candle for £3 a week or ask for Mass to be said for a special intention and enter these into the parish diary too. A finance committee is an off-shoot of the Parish-in-Council and meets quarterly. There is a parish finance policy document which is available to view on request. The finance committee of seven people is ably assisted by a small team of people who count and bank the collection takings. Full summary accounts are available, reported annually, at Parish-in-council meetings.

Map of the Parish

The Parish of St Joseph, Monks Kirby, including the villages of Brinklow, Easenhall, Harborough Magna, , Stretton-under-Fosse, Willey and Withybrooke

The Parish is part of the Catholic Deanery of Rugby and the Archdiocese of Birmingham

A Brief History of the Parish Deirdre Towers ‘Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations’ Deuteronomy 32:7

The word ‘Kirby’ means ‘a settlement around a church’ in the Norse language and the village of Monks Kirby is so called because a Benedictine priory was situated here before the reformation. After the dissolution of the monasteries, the church was allowed to stand as it was used by the parish. This original church is the Anglican Church of St Edith’s and it is still standing to one side of the tiny village green.

The Earls of Denbigh, the Feilding family, have had their seat at Newnham Paddox at one end of the village for well over 500 years. In 1869 the eighth Earl bought the Catholic faith back to the village and founded the present Roman Catholic parish. The Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy from in Wales, were invited by the Earl to found a school in the parish and he built here a school, a convent, a chapel and other buildings for their use. When the eighth Earl died in 1892, he was taken to be buried next to his wife in Pantasaph in North Wales. The nuns in St Joseph’s Convent served the parish until they left in 1998, following the reorganisation of schools by the Local Authority, which closed the school in 1996. The House of Newnham Paddox became too big for practical use and too expensive to maintain and so was demolished in the 1950s. There is nothing left of the original house but the buildings of the convent still stand. They were used by various orders and groups for a few years but are now converted into houses.

The foundation stone of the new church of St Joseph’s, which replaced the old small chapel in the convent, was blessed by His Grace, Maurice Courve de Murville, 7th Archbishop of Birmingham, on 17th December 1991. Our Parish Priest was shared with another parish for many years and for some years the presbytery was used by a much loved retired priest, Fr David Hutt. After his death, the parish continued to use the old Presbytery for a while as a meeting place. We are grateful that Fr Matthew Pittam, a priest of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, decided to settle in the village with his family, and we have a resident Parish priest once more.

In recent years the presbytery was refurbished and is now let out as a rented home, which brings a small but steady income to the parish. During the refurbishment, the garage of the presbytery was converted into a small meeting room with simple kitchen facilities, and this is now used for coffee after Mass, for meetings and for children’s liturgy.

The parish attracts a number of regular attenders who live outside the parish and we have a growing attendance. This is in no small part, due to the community feel of the parish, the active nature of its many groups and its ability to find a special niche for everyone who comes. The church was consecrated on the 11th July 2012 by His Grace, the Most Reverend Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham. It was a beautiful ceremony and the whole parish worked together to make it a very special occasion. Preparations for this brought the community even closer together. The parish has no Catholic school now, but Catholic religious education provision is made in the Church of primary school close by. The school employs a practising Roman Catholic teacher specifically for this purpose. Preparation for First Reconciliation and First Communion and for Confirmation is managed by the parish rather than the school, as a great many of the children in the parish do not attend this particular school.

Recently the church has acquired some bells and these ring out to announce Mass and at the end of the school day during term time, to witness the presence of the parish in the village to all the residents, to the school children and to their parents and carers. As the parish grows, we are outgrowing our meeting room and we have exciting plans for extension.

Buildings Committee Tracy Darke ‘Unless the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain who builds it.’ Psalm 127:1

St Joseph’s has a small portfolio of buildings and land, primarily the church, car park, a lawn area with a tool and storage shed and the adjacent dormer bungalow, once the presbytery. The garage of the bungalow is converted into a small meeting room. The rental of the bungalow provides one of the small income streams to the parish. Whilst we are a small parish, we have big ambitions to provide facilities to broaden our reach and encourage the wider community to participate in parish activities. Every summer we erect a large marquee for the reception following First Communion and Confirmation celebrations. We also use it for other activities including a Ladies’ Tea hosted by the Union of Catholic Mothers and for barbeques shared with members of The Gateway Club.

It has become clear that we need a larger building to hold such events and to be a venue for parish meetings, children’s liturgy, group meetings, prayer groups and coffee after Mass, and we have started to plan for this. Following engagement with the Diocese on grant funding, we have an agent, who is preparing a draft scheme to enable us to consult with the wider community before submitting planning application. In addition to this exciting major project, which we hope to be completed by the end of 2019, we have a regular rolling programme of repairs and maintenance for all our assets. Some of these works have been repair of the roof, rewiring and new lighting system in the church and redecoration inside and outside the church and the replacement of locks and fire exit facilities.

Proposals for work to be done are discussed at building committee meetings and spending is put to the finance committee for approval. In this way we manage to maintain the fabric, safety and aesthetics of our current buildings as well as plan for the future in an organised way. Larger projects, such as the building of the new meeting hall, are discussed primarily at full Parish -in-Council Meetings. The buildings committee comprises five people and we are lucky to have a planning and buildings expert who is the chair.

Plans and drawings of the new building works will be available later in the year and will be displayed on the church porch notice board.

Prayer and Meditation Group Maria Lee ‘For when two or three gather in my name, there I am with them.’ Matthew 18:20

Here at St Joseph’s we are given an opportunity to deepen and develop our prayer life and relationship with God through the Parish Prayer and Meditation Group. It is a time when we draw away from the usual activities and concerns of everyday life and spend a quiet time with God in the company of other seekers.

Each session begins with a welcome and brief introduction followed by a Biblical reflection, discussion, meditation and prayers for ourselves and others. After the closing prayer we stay for some simple refreshments.

The group choose a prayer each week, which is published in the newsletter for the following Sunday to encourage others in the parish community to join us in daily prayer.

We meet in the parish rooms between 7 and 8 every Wednesday. There is no need to let anyone know if you are coming. Just come along. Each week somewhere in the region of 8-12 people attend.

Churches Together Dunstan Vavasour ‘Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.’ Psalm 133:1

St Joseph’s is a member of The Revel Churches Together. There are six Anglican Churches in the benefice and they combine with St Joseph’s and Brinklow United Reform Church to form Revel Churches Together. The group meets quarterly and organises events such as Services during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and Lenten study groups.

Within the group we keep each other updated about our own events and successes. Currently, Fr Matthew is our representative on Churches Together, and the lay representative post is vacant. Do see Father if you would like to take this on. The Union of Catholic Mothers Liz Crosskey ‘And he went down with them and was obedient to them and his mother kept all these things in her heart.’ Luke 2:51

The Union of Catholic Mothers (UCM) is a National Organisation of Catholic Women, open to all adult women who support our aims and objectives of ...'prayer, love and active witness to marriage, family and Christian life in the world'. Any woman with any affiliation to the church is eligible to join the UCM, whether she be married, single, divorced, separated, a mother or not, catholic or not. We can all play the role of a mother, and at different times in our lives, most of us are called to do so. The UCM at St Joseph’s was established eleven years ago. We are affiliated to the diocesan UCM and we each pay a small subscription annually to be part of the movement. At a diocesan level the UCM has been involved in many national and international events. Here at St Joseph’s we don’t currently aim to be very far reaching, because we see enough need very close to home. We see our role as three fold: 1) We play the role of ‘Mother to the Parish’. We prepare and serve food for events, man the tea urn and provide and distribute cake, provide fun practise sessions for flower arrangers, encourage other parish and family members to help with tasks, such as erecting and dismantling the Easter and Christmas windows or the marquee and mowing the large lawn. We also play a part in organising the parish diary and parish life, just as a good mother does for her family, so we help with planning for the May Procession and the Carol Evening and organise collection and gifting of the parish contribution to the local food bank. This first role we play is probably the most visible, but certainly not the most important role. 2) We provide mutual support to our fellow women in the church. We spend time together building the women of the church into a strong, loving and supportive community through fun, friendship and prayer. Each quarter we have a meeting to plan and organise events and to discuss items that we wish to bring forward to the whole parish meeting. We also organise and hold at least four additional events every year. Many of these events are open to the whole parish, such as film nights, day visits or visiting speakers, some are open to all women in the parish, such as the ladies’ tea in the summer and the ladies’ Christmas meal, some are open to members only, such as the annual retreat weekend. Each year we take a weekend retreat to visit a UK Holy Place and stay together away from home, in community. During these times we are together for the entire weekend, enjoying each other’s company, praying together, laughing together, taking meals together, learning together and being silent together. We have visited such diverse places as Walsingham, St Winifred’s Well, The Hospitality Convent of the Bridgettine sisters in Holywell, Hereford Cathedral, Belmont Abbey, The Convent in Hunstanton, Peterborough Cathedral, the Shrine of St Margaret Clitherow (our patron saint) and the Bar Convent in York, the Shrine of St Aetheldreda in Ely, and Launde Abbey 3) We provide support for mothers in the parish bringing up Catholic children in an increasingly secular world. When we started the group many of us had very young children, nearly all of whom were being educated in schools without a religious affiliation. Children in these circumstances can feel embarrassed, when their friends visit, by the normal demonstrations of a Catholic home, such as attending church, saying grace at meals, having crucifixes or holy statues and pictures in the house, or saying bed time prayers. We have, over the years, provided many, many opportunities for children at church to socialise and spend time together, so that they can see that theirs is NOT, for instance, the only family who pray and display religious images, the only family who respect God’s name or the only family who attend church on Holy Days. Strong friendships have been formed during these sessions and the children all get on well together still. Recently the number of younger mothers in the UCM has decreased, so we are dedicating some of our efforts in 2019 to increasing the membership among mothers with young children. I believe that St Joseph’s UCM is a real force for good in the parish community. Education and Preparation for Sacraments Deirdre Towers ‘Teach a youth about the way he should go’ Proverbs 13:14

It is important for children to feel that they are part of the Mass and so, with the help of many willing and able volunteers, the children who are ten and under listen and question the gospel of the day when they are taken out before the readings in Sunday Mass, to take part in the Children’s Liturgy group. They re-enter the church and take the gifts up to the priest in the offertory procession.

The importance of the sacraments is reinforced every Sunday and preparation for the sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion is taught in The Revel C or E Primary School, Monks Kirby, where Catholic provision is made. The school employs a practising catholic teacher to deliver the appropriate RE curriculum to Roman Catholic children in the school. A member of the parish sits on the school governing body as a foundation governor. The sacrament of Confirmation takes place every two years and is prepared for with six weeks of weekend classes, out of school, prior to the celebration.

Both First Holy Communion and Confirmation are one of the joys of parish life and a happy reception with a special cake is prepared by the Union of Catholic Mothers. This reception takes place on the church lawn in our large marquee.

Rugby Gateway Club Phil Bianco ‘Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute …defend the rights of the poor and needy’ Proverbs 31: 8,9

Rugby Gateway club is a club for adults with special needs. We take part in a huge range of activities ranging from holidays, discos and parties to sporting events. I have an adult son with special needs and I been volunteering there and running the club for several years

Three years ago Fr Matthew suggested that the parish and the club get together and organise a service fully accessible and appropriate for adults with special needs to both join in the worship and to contribute to the service itself. The enthusiasm for this at the club was electric and I had members crying out to do a reading and even one offer from a member to play the organ. This gentleman can not read music but plays a vast range of music by ear.

The enthusiasm and kindness shown by the parishioners at St Joseph’s was overwhelming and the parish put on a barbeque after the service, on the lawn, with the marquee providing some shade.

Every year the parish advertise and hold a carol singing event on the green in the village, on the afternoon of the third Sunday of advent. It is attended by a huge number of our parish and some villagers as well as parishioners from St Edith’s C of E Church. For the last three years many of the members of the Gateway Club have also attended with their carers. After the carol singing, there is a simple short set of readings in St Edith’s church to remind us all of the Christmas story and then we share mince pies and mulled wine and other food generously supplied by the people who attend.

Each year now we have two services a year led by members of the Gateway Club and supported by the parish. The members love to come and the attendance has grown and grown. The parish enjoy sharing their faith with club members and the members enjoy the opportunity to pray and reflect in a way they can access. Now this fabulous link is established, I hope it will continue as part of parish life for many years. Liturgy of the Word Deirdre Towers ‘Seek through the scripture of the Lord and read it.’ Isaiah 34:16

Our many readers prepare and participate in the reading of the Word at every Mass. In preparing for proclaiming the Good News, we read the relevant passages and carefully check the pronunciation of any unfamiliar vocabulary. We then spend some time in private prayer to ask the Holy Spirit to support our abilities in sharing God’s word. Two readers are allocated for every Sunday Mass and one for each weekday. The first reader proclaims the reading from the Old Testament and the Psalm. The second reader proclaims the Epistle and then reads the Prayers of the Faithful after the Creed.

Fr Matthew has encouraged all those who are to be second reader to prepare the bidding prayers themselves each week, which makes them relevant to our parish and to the wider world. In order to prepare the bidding prayers the readers have the use of guidance from a book, from suggestions given by other members of the congregation and from the website written by the Redemptorist Society.

Justice and Peace Group Maria Lee ‘Act justly, love tenderly, walk humbly with your God’ Micah 6:8

As a parish we are keen to get involved in the Justice and Peace movement, so we have set up a parish Justice and Peace group, which meets on the first Monday of each month in the Parish room at 7 to 8:30 pm. We already have a weekly delivery of donated items to the Rugby foodbank and we want to build on this good practise of service to our fellow man.

We hope to cover areas as diverse as global issues, such as climate change, the International Peace Movement and Fair trade. Closer to home we will discuss environmental issues, housing, homelessness, refugee support, support for asylum seekers and human rights. Our initial plan is to use a questionnaire, filled in by the congregation, to explore areas highlighted by the parish, to write an action plan for the parish to develop.

Although we are led by the Diocesan Justice and Peace Commission, we will link up with other organisations such as CAFOD and Action for the Church in need. We hope to set up a LiveSimply programme and discover ways we can promote Justice and Peace in the wider community.

As a parish we are called to try to live out God’s will by responding to His call to act for the common good and the good of all creation. Our aim is to answer that call personally and engage the parish in doing likewise, in the light of scriptural and catholic social teaching.

The Gardening Team Dave Mileham ‘And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it’ Genesis 2:15

When the church was built in the 1990s the grounds were professionally landscaped. Mainly shrubs were planted to make the gardens low maintenance and some areas were laid to lawn. Not much regular gardening was carried out apart from lawn mowing, but occasional small groups were formed to tackle work when things got out of hand and later, when we acquired a new large are of grass and trees when the next door convent closed down. In 2001 the gardens were well established but needed some tender loving care; so when our son was to say his first mass following his ordination, my wife Liz, and sister in law Maureen, decided to try and smarten up the garden prior to the event. Afterwards they continued to work on the garden as a weekly activity.

For bigger jobs, like hedge trimming or pruning, I was occasionally drafted in along with my brother in law, Maurice. When I retired in 2007 I joined the group regularly to do the heavier jobs. Subsequently another parish member, Shirley, joined us and this team of four now works in the garden every Wednesday, except on extremely cold or snowy days.

As the older shrubs become overgrown or die, they are removed or replaced and plants are grown from seed for flowers and planted every spring.

People often make complimentary remarks about the garden and villagers make detours through the church gardens to admire them. It has become an important part of our weekly routine and our Wednesdays together have not just developed a beautiful garden that brings joy to many, but have brought us great pleasure too.

Music at St Joseph’s Dunstan Vavasour

‘Speak to one another with psalms, praises to God, and spiritual songs’ Ephesians 5:19

St Joseph’s is a singing parish. The congregation joins in all parts of the sung mass and hymns with enthusiasm. I am proud to be director of music here.

Our Sunday Mass is sung, as are our special occasions: Easter Triduum, Corpus Christi Processions, May Marion Procession and others. Our musical style is traditional, with organ accompaniment on almost every Sunday.

A small unison schola cantorum is convened for the Triduum and other special occasions. We use three English mass settings, and use Latin plainchant during Advent and Lent.

We managed to develop a bigger choir for the consecration of our church in June 2012 and we expanded our repertoire of music. We were privileged to have a new Mass setting written especially for this occasion and we still use this setting at Christmas and Easter, on our patronal feast day and on other feast days through the year.

On the third Sunday of Advent the parish invite villagers and friends to join us when we have carol singing on the green, compete with lanterns and warm coats. We have only been cancelled once due to heavy snow, and the event is extremely well attended. Eucharistic Ministers of the Eucharist Mary Male ‘Take and eat. This is my body’ Matthew 26:26

Here at St Joseph’s we have a large team of Eucharistic Ministers who visit the sick and housebound, some in their own homes, some in the nursing home, St Mary’s and some at the residential care home, Town Thornes.

There is a three weekly rota where Fr Matthew and lay ministers take turns offering Holy Communion to each person in the community. This rota enables every Catholic parishioner on the home communion list to receive Holy Communion every week, if they wish to.

We are welcomed by the people we visit; they look forward to seeing us. During our visit we chat to them about their families, what they have done in life, what has happened in the week, and generally have a joke with them and even perhaps put the world to rights. Last, but not least, we pray with them before and after administering Holy Communion.

St Joseph’s also has a rota of Eucharistic Ministers who assist the Priest at every Mass. This means that during Sunday Masses, Masses on feast days and weekday Masses, Communion under both kinds is offered to all.

Recently some Ministers have also been leading an occasional ‘Service of the Word and Holy Communion’, on days when Fr Matthew is not available for Mass in the week. In this way the rhythm of worship and prayer through the week is continued even when our Parish Priest is away.

Altar Servers and The Guild of St Stephen’s Steve West ‘Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God’ Romans 15:17

We are blessed to have within our parish a strong team of Altar Servers, who are enrolled in the Guild of St Stephen, after they have served for twelve months alongside more experienced servers. The 28th March 2018 saw the parish’s 50th anniversary of affiliation to the Guild.

As, historically, many of our Altar Servers have joined the servers’ group soon after their first Holy Communion, there is great potential for further catechesis and this is something we hope to explore further.

As a group in recent years we have served at the Diocesan Pilgrimage to Walsingham and organised a visit to St Chad’s Cathedral in Birmingham. We also try to organise a couple of social trips each year, such as to laser quest, bowling or something similar. This year we plan to strengthen our links with the Altar Servers Group at English Martyrs RC Church in Hillmorton, Rugby, by inviting them to join us on these outings. On Boxing Day 2018 we were fortunate to have the servers at English Martyrs join us for our annual St Stephen’s day Mass, at which two servers from English Martyrs and two servers from St Joseph’s were enrolled into the guild. Contact List

Additional telephone numbers can be obtained from Fr Matthew Parish Priest

Parish Priest Fr Matthew Pittam 01788 833547 Safeguarding officer Deirdre Towers 01788 816534 Sacristan Liz Hewitt 01788 832183 Parish Secretary Liz Crosskey 01455 553578 Liturgy of the Word Tracy Darke Children’s Liturgy Deirdre Towers

Local School Governor Paul Koenig

Catholic RE provision at school Doroty Savage Preparation for Sacraments Sarah Hubbard

Choir and music Dunstan Vavasour Union of Catholic Mothers Liz Crosskey

Buildings Committee Tracy Darke

Finance Committee James Crosskey Gardening Group Dave Mileham Flower arrangers Maggie Campbell

Altar Servers/Guild of St Stephen Steve West

Visiting of the sick and housebound Mary Male

Link with St Mary’s Nursing Home Liz Hewitt Link with Town Thornes Care Home Mary Male Churches Together rep, ecumenical matters Dunstan Vavasour

Mater Ecclesiae Convent Sr Clare Robinson

Justice and Peace group Maria Lee

Link to gateway club for adults with learning disabilities Fr Matthew Pittam

Prayer and Meditation Group Maria Lee

Volunteers for tea/coffee after Mass Clare Simonian