Our Community

Every year the parish of Our Lady and St. Edmund of Abingdon holds a special "Parish Sunday" , so that the people attending all four Sunday Masses have an opportunity to meet, and make the acquaintance of fellow Parishioners whom they might otherwise never see.
This year the celebration was held on Sunday the 23 May, and consisted of a Parish Fayre held in the church grounds complete with an International buffet provided by members of the "Cake and Conversation" group. The group exists to help overseas visitors to improve their conversational skills and become more integrated with parish life.
There were also a number of stalls including Fairtrade, a Bookstall, a Tombola and a Garden plant and herb stall. Additionally there was a Bouncy Castle and a Puppet Theatre for the children.
The day ended with an evening Barn Dance in the main hall of St. Edmund's school.

Congratulations to all the candidates in the Thames Isis Pastoral Area who were confirmed by Bishop Crispian on 11th May at Our Lady and and St Edmund's Church, Abingdon.

Con-celebrating were Fr David O'Sullivan, Fr Paul King, Fr Terence Fitzpatrick and Fr Tom Taaffe, with assistance from Deacon Richard Budgen

With grateful thanks to Ernest Janicki for the use of his photos

April 2010

The Blessing of Easter Food at Abingdon

February 2010

Life in the Spirit Seminars
at Our Lady and St Edmund Church, Abingdon

We were pleased to welcome David Payne on our first week, who spoke to a full church about God's love. David is Director of Catholic Evangelisation Services, which produce the CaFE videos; he is he well known from his appearances in these videos

Week 2: Gabriele Sedda spoke about Salvation. Gabriele, who is from Sardinia, works for Goodnews magazine and is a Core Team member of the Westminster Cathedral Hall prayer group. He is a frequent speaker at Days of Renewal and Life in the Spirit Seminars.

Week 3: Maria Toth receiving prayer prior to beginning her talk about New Life. Maria works for Premier Christian Radio where she is the lively presenter of the popular ‘Woman to Woman’ programme. She is a member of the Cor et Lumen Christi Community where she is involved in prayer and music ministries.

Week 4 - Jenny Baker speaking about Receiving God's Gift. Jenny has been jointly responsible with David Payne for the development and presentation of the CaFE course, which now runs in parishes throughout the country. She has travelled widely in this country and overseas to promote CaFE. Jenny has a breadth of experiences especially encouraging to parents and is an inspiring speaker well known for her practical explanation of the Catholic faith. She undertakes a number of speaking engagements and presentations at conferences and in parishes throughout the country.

Week 5: James Wilkinson preparing us for the time of ministry, when we invited the Holy Spirit into our lives. James, based in Chertsea, took early retirement to work as an evangelist and has been running events locally and further afield. He is running our seminars in Abingdon, the 18th Life in the Spirit Seminars for which he has been responsible.

Week 6: Roy Hendy speaking about Growth in the Spirit. Roy is a well known evangelist who has preached extensively in Africa, eastern Europe and the UK,
including in some of the toughest prisons. Roy and his wife June are founders of the House of the Open Door Christian community.

Week 7: Charles Whitehead speaking about Transformation. Charles is an internationally known speaker and writer; he sits on a number of local, diocesan, and national church and special ministry committees including The Catholic Bible School and the Christian Healing Mission; he is founder and the Chairman of Harvesters, a network encouraging and equipping men in their Christian faith; his local Bishop has recently given him pastoral responsibility for the diocesan team of youth workers, and he is an advisor to both Catholic Youth Services and to CASE, the Evangelisation Agency of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference. He has received a papal knighthood for his services to the church.

Valentine's Gala Dinner at Our Lady and St Edmund Church

More than one hundred and fifty years ago a celebratory meal for notable guests including many of the Catholic aristocracy, was held in the cloister of Our Lady and St. Edmund’s church in Abingdon. This event inspired a group of present day parishioners to organize a fund raising “Gala Candlelit St. Valentines Supper” in the same venue. This commenced with a Champagne reception at the presbytery followed by a three course meal in the cloister.
The event proved to be both a social and financial success, the people attending agreeing that the evening was most enjoyable, while over fifteen hundred pounds was raised for charity.