Our Lady Mother of God

Introduction

The church was built at a construction cost of £17,000, with an additional £7,000 for landscaping, and is believed to have been erected under the direction of a parishioner, with no architect identified.

History

By the late 1960s, clergy at Saint George's were saying Mass in a school for the growing number of Catholics in the area, leading to the establishment of a Development Fund. Planning permission was given in 1970 after the local authority had concerns about the building's quality and the car park's appearance from St William's Way. A red brick parish hall, with almost as big a footprint as the church, was added at right angles to the church in about 1980.

Music and liturgy

Ecumenical services include a joint Carol Service with St Cuthbert's Church on the third Sunday of Advent, and a United Advent Service on the first Sunday of Advent hosted by a different Sprowston church each year. Sprowston Community Churches organise an afternoon of relaxed worship and fun at Sprowston recreation ground, known as Praise in the Park, in the summer.

Parish life

The parish's CAFOD group has raised over £100,000 for various projects over the years. The Daytime Prayer Group, started in 2006 with six people, has grown to over 25 members. The parish forms Sprowston Community Churches with St Cuthbert's, St Mary & St Margarets, Wroxham Road Methodist Church and Gage Road Chapel. The Fabric Committee, meeting four times a year, considers issues pertaining to the buildings and sites the parish manages.

Each year from autumn to summer, the parish engages in bible study, having studied the Bible Timeline, the Gospel of Matthew, Acts of the Apostles, and Revelation. The parish runs a 'Journey in Faith' course each year aimed at those interested in becoming Catholic, running from late autumn until Easter. The parish relies on catechists for children's liturgy, sacramental preparation, bible study classes, and more. Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion also take holy communion to the sick and housebound within the parish.

Parishioners represent St George's at ecumenical meetings and diocesan committees. The SVP holds meetings in the meeting room at St George's church on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.

Sacraments and pastoral care

Children are prepared for first holy communion annually, with a course running from January to June. A minimum of six months notice is required for all weddings.