Pastoral

Bereavement Team
The Bereavement Team are volunteers who are available to visit and support those who have been bereaved. The team are a small discreet group of specially trained parishioners who offer a confidential listening ear and an opportunity to share some of your grief.

Marriage Care
Coventry Marriage Care is one of 60 centres across the country which supports marriage by providing Marriage Preparation courses and counselling support to couples or individuals with relationship problems. Getting married? Planning the church, the dress, the flowers, the honeymoon? Have you thought about the next 50 plus years? Marriage Care offers Marriage Preparation courses usually in partnership with the parish and courses are held either at 13 Stoney Road or in parish centres. One of our parishioners arranges the Local course for Marriage Care and the parish centre is often used as a venue for these courses.  Contact Freda Lambert on 01676 522908.  www.marriagecare.org.uk

Justice and Peace
The Group aims to raise awareness of justice and peace issues and to take action when and where appropriate. Formed in 2007 they started the Fair Trade shop in Christ the King and St Augustine’s. The parish has obtained Fair Trade status. They support CAFOD campaigns, for example the Climate Change cards sent to the Prime Minister and the Live Simply Campaign. The parish has sent donations of food to the Peace House in Coventry which supports destitute asylum seekers and has collected items to send to the Coventry Churches Refugee Centre. At Christmas the Group encourages parishioners to send cards to Prisoners of Conscience and messages to Christians in Bethlehem.  The group meet once a month in the Library. New members are welcome. Contact Freda Lambert on 01676 522908  www.justice-and-peace.org.uk

Legion of Mary
The Legion of Mary meets in the library every Monday at 7pm, and you are most welcome to join them. The Legion of Mary was founded in Dublin, Ireland on 7 September 1921. It is a lay Catholic organisation whose members give service to the Church on a voluntary basis in almost every country. The objective of the Legion of Mary is to glorify God through the holiness of its members, developed by prayer and active co-operation in Mary and the Church’s work. The unit of the Legion of Mary is called a praesidium, which holds a weekly meeting, where prayer is intermingled with reports and discussion.  Contact Pat Flanagan on 024 76335383 www.legionofmary.ie

The Pioneers
The Pioneers meet in the parish library every month and support the work of the parish. They have recently organised the renovation of the Pioneer Hall in Broad St and celebrated the reopening of the Hall with a Mass celebrated by Bishop John Mone, the retired Bishop of Paisley in Scotland. Bishop Mone is a member of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association.  Contact Rev Gerry O’Reilly on 024 76333881 www.pioneerassociation.ie

The Saint Vincent de Paul Society (SVP)
Locally we are proud of our own SVP Group, and all the proceeds from the paper stall support them. Jim Curtiss, on the newspaper stall, can give you more information and says that they are always looking for new volunteers. The Saint Vincent de Paul Society has an excellent website telling us all about the work they do. In short, the Society aims to help anyone in need, if it is within the local membership’s capability. Contact Jim Curtis on 024 76591388 www.svp.org.uk

The Knights of St Columba
The Knights meet every month and provide great support to the wider Catholic community. As well as fundraising for many good causes the Knights offer practical help at all the major diocesan and deanery events. Contact Keith Millage on 024 76601136 www.ksc.org.uk

 

Catechesis
Catechesis, coming from the Greek meaning ‘to echo the teaching’, really is a wonderful way in which we all share our faith with one another.  In this sense, we are all teachers.
The Children’s Liturgy Group is growing in number and has begun a program of renewal. It welcomes children during the Sunday Mass and serves the parish faithfully. For more information contact Sian Smith on 76459703.
Our parish and school links are never more evident than when children are prepared for their sacraments of First Confession, First Holy Communion and Confirmation.
Older children learn through the Youth Club and young adults are formed in the faith through the Youth Cafe or, indeed, through catechesis in preparation for the Sacraments of Holy Communion and Confirmation if they are not attending Catholic schools.
Baptism is arranged via the clergy and each family is visited at home by one of the priests.
Couples seeking the sacrament of Marriage, either here or away from the parish, are prepared by one of the priests and by attending a Marriage Care course.
Every year from September to Easter we have a program of talks on Knowledge of Sacred Scripture and Our Faith. These talks are on a Wednesday Evening  7pm – 8pm  in the Library, and led by Deacon Tony Jane.  Leaflets on these talks are available to download from the Parish Website. Contact Tony Janew for more information on 024 7626567
The Scripture Sharing Group meet on a Tuesday after the 9.15am Mass, to discuss the Sunday readings.  Contact Freda Lambert on 01676 522908 for more information.
The Prayer Group meets for shared prayer on Tuesday evening at 7.30pm. Contact Patt Hobbs  on 024 76334574 for more information.

Parish Camping Weekend
For the last six years the Parish has organised a Family Camp at the end of the school summer holidays. People gather at Packington for a family weekend. There is a full programme of events for children of all ages, including the adults. Families enjoy rock climbing, go-karting, an assault course, archery and many other activities. We have a Garden Party on Saturday when we are joined by parishioners who come for the day. The night ends around the campfire with a sing song. On Sunday we have an outdoor Mass together. The parish youth group help to organise and steward the event which grows in popularity each year.