Latest News

CAFOD: Thank you to everyone who has generously sponsored us as we work towards our 200km target as part of the CAFOD Big Lent Walk.  Your donations have kept us motivated and we are now over halfway into the challenge and have already completed 155km. We’re hoping for a bit of sunshine to carry us through the final stretch.

If you would still like to support us, sponsor forms are available at the back of the church, or you can donate online. Every penny raised goes directly to CAFOD.

Thank you again for your kindness and encouragement.

Gerry & Teresa Palmer

Parish Spring Fair on 28^th March

Our Spring Fair is only a matter of days away, so many thanks to all who donated their goods or time to make this day a success.

We are still looking for donations for specific stalls, most notably;

Bottles and Gifts for the Tombola

Nearly new toys and games

Jams and Preserves

Spring Items such as Easter Cards, plants, bulbs, gardening gloves and small garden tools etc

Homemade cakes (on the day)

Please bring donations to church this Wednesday (after 10am mass) or on Friday 27^th March (12.30 to 2.30). Perishable items (homemade cakes and plants etc) can be brought on the Friday afternoon or before 9.30 on the day of the fair.

Our parish fair is not only a wonderful community event but also an important fundraiser for the life of the church — but it can only happen with your support. Thank you to everyone who has already offered help. 

One of the really fruitful areas of work in recent months has been that of small Focus Groups, bringing together reps from the larger Hub Leadership Groups. We have Focus Groups looking at: Prayer & Worship, Formation & Mission, Communications, Pastoral Care, Finance & Stewardship. They are identifying lots of tangible ways we can work across our churches to enhance the service we want to provide to parishioners and to reach out to those who are not (yet) part of our communities. Soon you will all be invited, through ministries you’re already exercising or as brand-new volunteers, to help in rolling out the fruits of the work of these Focus Groups. We are also just about to launch a new quarterly Parish Magazine spotlighting good news from across all our churches.

now we are without a Bishop, some are wondering how this affects the journey of change we are all on in the Diocese to become new larger Parishes. Already, before Archbishop Richard left us, 3 of the 11 Deaneries of the Diocese had legally become new Parishes (Brighton & Hove; Guildford, Weybridge). For the rest of us we are asked to keep momentum on our journey of preparing, so that when a new Bishop is appointed, we will be in good shape.  Certainly, a new Bishop will bring “fresh eyes and ears” to some of the detail of how we come together as new Parishes, but he will no doubt be committed to keeping the spirit of the Pastoral Plan. In our own Deanery (Eastbourne to Rye) we have lots of work underway to help us share and collaborate together in good and helpful ways.
 

The New Parish will be overseen by a Clergy Team, moderated by Fr Kevin Dring. The team will work closely with Hub Secretaries, Hub Leadership Groups and lay representatives to support pastoral planning, governance and the shared mission of the Parish. The West Hub covering Eastbourne, Polegate,      Hampden Park, Hailsham and the East Hub; St Leonard’s, Hastings, Bexhill, Battle and Rye.                                                                           

East Hub Secretary: Elizabeth Fitch [email protected]   01424 602077           

West Hub Secretary: Cheryl Wood [email protected]   01323 723222

New Parish Website:  www.eastbourne-stleonards.org.uk

O God, eternal shepherd, 

who govern your flock

with unfailing care, grant in your boundless fatherly love 

a pastor for your Church

 who will please you by his holiness 

and to us show watchful care. 

Through Christ our Lord 

Amen

St Patrick’s Day Tea – Sunday 22 March

Come and join us after the 10:30 Mass at St Wilfrid’s for a warm and cheerful St Patrick’s Day Tea. We’ll have Irish music, tea, and plenty of cakes, and a chance to enjoy good company together.

There may even be a little singing and dancing for those who feel inspired.

Everyone is very welcome — do come along and celebrate with us!

Parish Spring Fair on 28^th March– We Urgently Need Your Help

Our Spring Fair is fast approaching, but at the moment we simply don’t have enough items or volunteers to run many of the stalls. Without more help in the next week, some of our most popular stalls may not be able to open.

If you are able to help in any of the following ways, it would make a real difference:

Items we urgently need

Bottles and Gifts for the Tombola

Nearly new toys and games

Books

Good quality bric-a-brac

Jams and Preserves

Spring Items such as Easter Cards, plants, bulbs, and small garden tools

Homemade cakes (on the day)

Volunteers needed

People to run stalls

Helpers for set-up and clearing away

Bakers for the cake stall

Even one bag of items or one hour of your time helps make the day possible.

Please bring donations to church this Sunday or contact [email protected] if you can help with a stall.

Our parish fair is not only a wonderful community event but also an important fundraiser for the life of the church — but it can only happen with your support.

Thank you to everyone who has already offered help. If you have been meaning to sign up, now is the time.

Join me in supporting Mary’s Meals!

I am hosting an event on Friday 20th March at 11 am, in Willingdon. We will listen to one of the lectures on the course “Life Lessons from the Great Books,” debate the topic and collect donations for Mary’s Meals (marysmeals.org), a charity that provides school meals to children in some of the world’s poorest countries.  It costs just £19.15 to provide a child with meals in a place of education for a whole school year. Giving £2, £5, £10 or more can help fund meals for many children. Please, call Mercè on 07855452741 for more details and to confirm attendance.