Holy Cross, Carshalton

Introduction

The church has a two-manual pipe organ designed and built in 1964 by J.W. Walker and Sons.

History

Father Albert Jenner was appointed as the first resident priest in June 1931. In August 1964 the old hall, originally the chapel, was demolished and the church was extended, coming into full use at Easter. In October 1976 work began on redesigning the sanctuary, a new altar was erected, the font was brought to the sanctuary, and the church was redecorated throughout, completed by Christmas 1976. Father Anthony Kavanagh served the church for twenty-one years and died in 1960.

Parish life

The parish runs a weekly Monday morning stay-and-play group for under-5s, toddlers, and babes in arms, offering soft play, crafts, storytime, and singing. The parish collects food items for the Sutton Food Bank, which has four distribution centres in the borough and provides emergency three-day supplies.

Fifty Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist cover five Sunday Masses with Holy Communion under both kinds, and some also take Communion to the sick and housebound. The parish has one reader for each reading at every one of the five Sunday Masses, plus an additional reader for the Prayer of the Faithful, totalling 15 readers every weekend. Altar servers are enrolled in the Guild of St Stephen on the Feast of St Stephen (Boxing Day) after a year's probation.

Sacraments and pastoral care

The parish's catechists number about fifty in all and help in sacramental preparation of baptism, first communion, confirmation, R.C.I.A. and children’s liturgy. The parish's vision for the Children’s Liturgy is for children to take on as big and active a role as they are able, with older children joining as 'junior volunteers' with the goal of leading songs, prayers or sessions.