Welcome Fr José Salas . . . !

We are delighted to welcome Fr José Salas who is spending a little time in the UK during his Easter vacation from his studies in Rome. Fr José will be joining us in the Easter celebrations here at St Ann's .

We are also very pleased as Fr José seems to have brought some of the Roman sunshine with him . . . or perhaps it has come all the way from his native Mexico!

All change at Banstead - Ecumenically speaking, that is . . .

In the next few weeks we have to say a fond farewell to three members of our Banstead Five Clergy.

Rev David Chance, Vicar of All Saints, Banstead is retiring after 17 years in his parish and moving down to Margate with his wife and family to enjoy a well-earned retirement. I'm sure he will be sadly missed by his congregation and many others who have been used to seeing him at various B5 events and generally around and about in Banstead.

Rev Damian Miles, Vicar of St Paul's, Nork is also taking his leave from us as he moves on to a new appointment in Thorpe, near Heathrow. Rev Damian Miles, although not in his parish as long as the Vicar of All Saints, has nevertheless made his mark in his community and we're sure his successor will appreciate the work he has put into building up the community of Christians in Nork.

Finally, we must say goodbye to our local Methodist Minister, Rev Nigel Wright who has managed to juggle the demands of two Methodist churches, one in Banstead and one in Epsom, and still find time to join in Banstead Five events. After four years here Nigel and his family have already left Banstead to continue their ministry in Leighton Buzzard. We look forward to getting to know our new local Methodist Minister, Rev John Amankwatia, who took up his new appointment here just yesterday.

We wish them all well as they move on to the next stage of their ministry.

It always makes me smile . . .

This is a bit of an 'in joke' for any possible clerical readers of this blog. I wonder how many times you've heard something like this in the last few days.

I certainly have had similar comments several times when I've been out and about in the parish recently. I wonder what people imagine we do for the rest of the year!

It still makes me smile . . .

Scripture Conference for Clergy.

From Tuesday afternoon clergy from across our diocese together with Bishop Kieran will be gathering at The Royal Holloway College, University of London for a Scripture Conference which will take place over the next few days. I myself will join as soon as I'm able after celebrating Mass early on Wednesday morning.

The theme of the conference is, 'Where Does the Jesus Story Begin?' and will be led by Father Denis McBride CssR, a well-known scripture scholar.

These sessions of ongoing formation for clergy are very important; not only for our ongoing formation but also to give clergy an opportunity to meet one another in relaxed surroundings away from the busy day to day life of the parish.

Please pray for the success of the conference and for all those who are attending.

Visit by Apostolic Nuncio

I have just returned from Epsom parish where about 70 - 80 priests and deacons of our diocese together with Bishop Kieran had gathered to meet Archbishop Faustino Sainz Muñoz, Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain.

In his introduction the Archbishop described his role as Apostolic Nuncio as being, 'the mouth, eyes, ears and heart of the Holy Father'. He then went on to take questions on a variety of topics from the assembled clergy. After a very interesting and enjoyable morning we had a break for a delicious buffet lunch prepared by the ladies of Epsom parish.