By Con McHugh

The parish consists of St Gregory the Great church and Our Lady of Peace and is based in Stratford upon Avon. As one visitor said after Mass a couple of weeks ago “I have now found something more important than Shakespeare!!”

Following on from the parish discussions around a Synodal Church, a small group suggested the idea of an Open Day to show what goes on in the parish and how we help others. This was for the wider parish community.

The date chosen was Saturday 1 July 2023 and the time 10am to 5pm at St Gregory the Great church, both inside and outside the church.

The events consisted of welcome and choir, music, Polish children in national costume, Angelus followed by the Rosary, school children singing, icons, organ playing/cello, exposition and benediction.

The displays consisted of St Vincent de Paul, Parish Bereavement Team, Liturgy and Faith Development, the Catenians, Repository, CAFOD, Mary’s Meals, CWL, Life Mission today, St Gregory’s Primary School, Prayer Trust, vocations display, Polish Group, Iyerekhu St Paul’s Mission School, flower arranging, children’s Liturgy, eco information, how we support our parish community, who is involved in the Mass, inside the Sacristy, who is involved in maintenance of church, music in our worship.

Within the church there were several beautiful flower displays. The parish meeting room was used for refreshments.

Fr Alex Austin, parish priest, said: "A huge thank you to all those who worked so hard in preparing for today's open day, it was a lovely occasion, a big success. A lot of hard work went into planning it – a big thank you to the many volunteers who were here most of the day.

"A special big thanks to Cecilia Donnelly and Simon Chappell who coordinated everything for day with support from Maureen Thompson, Terri Evans and the many groups within the parish. Thank you to the flower arrangers for such beautiful displays. Thank you to all who attended and supported the event."

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