IN June of this year, St. Catharine’s Catholic Church on Park Road in Frome had an open day. Much of what was on offer would be familiar to anyone who has ever been involved in such a day; the colourful stalls in the church hall run by the various church groups, boisterous children’s activities, endless cups of tea. The church itself was also open with an invitation to the general public to visit.
What struck the Parish Pastoral Council who organised the event was that while the hall was full of parishioners – which in itself was no bad thing, since they got to know what everybody else in the parish was doing – there were very few visitors. It was only when they got a report from the ‘open church’ team that they realised that the visitors, rather than braving the bustle of the hall, had slipped quietly into the church, had a look around, sat for a while with their own thoughts, then left.
Intrigued and inspired by this interest in the church, the parish council has decided to have another ‘open church’ on Saturday 4th November from 12 noon until 4.00pm.
The chair of the parish council, Raymond Friel said, “We were really struck by how many people came into the church. Whatever drew them into the church is their business – maybe it was just curiosity, maybe something deeper, a desire to connect with something bigger in life – but whatever it was we want to make that available again to the community. So please pop in on Saturday afternoon on 4th November, experience some peace and quiet.”
St. Catharine’s Open Church is on Saturday 4th November from 12 noon until 4.00 pm. All are welcome.
Raymond Friel
