St. John the Evangelist

Introduction

St John's includes a Blessed Sacrament Chapel intended for prayer after Mass. A statue of Our Lady of Walsingham was donated to the parish for the Blessed Sacrament Chapel at St John's.

Architecture and furnishings

The church in Mildenhall is a red-brick building situated on the Saint John's Estate to the northeast of the town. Decani Music eventually distributed for GIA, World Library, Taize and many other smaller publishers.

Music and liturgy

At the time Stephen also directed the weekly music of Our Lady and St Etheldreda’s Parish, Newmarket. Stephen often composed music for these occasions and for the parish.

Parish life

For many years the parish had a book club operating at Mildenhall until Covid saw its demise. Stephen Dean took part in 'An Evening with Auntie' BBC radio sketches such as 'the Glums' and 'Round the Horne'.

The parish includes towns and villages such as Brandon, Lakenheath, Mildenhall, and RAF bases at Lakenheath, Mildenhall, and Feltwell. The parish seeks volunteers for roles including musicians, singers, readers, lay eucharistic ministers, altar servers, sacristans, greeters, flower arrangers, cleaners, visitors to the sick, catechists, and ushers. The parish offers periodic social events such as picnics, dinners, raffles, and an Autumn Fayre. The parish runs annual classes for Baptism and Confirmation preparation, led by parishioner catechists.

The parish is a certified Fair Trade parish and promotes buying fairly traded goods. The parish raised £1556.50 for its designated parish charity through Orange Bucket collections.

The parish undertakes pilgrimages to holy places, courses of prayer or study in Lent and Advent, and parish retreats. Many parish members have attended Cursillo courses, a movement of spiritual renewal.

The parish seeks volunteers to help run a children's liturgy group at Mildenhall or Brandon. Parishioners who have made their First Holy Communion can volunteer to serve at Mass at either Brandon or Mildenhall.

Sacraments and pastoral care

Confirmation preparation is normally in school year 10 or above. Adults who missed First Communion or Confirmation can receive help from the parish. Holy Communion is brought to the sick, housebound or infirm at home. The priest offers house blessings on request.

Visiting

Visitors may borrow books on the Church, prayer, spirituality and biographies of saints from the church's resource. Lost items are kept in the narthex for one month before disposal.

Confessions are heard in the confessional in the right-hand corner of the church. The sacristy and confessional are at the front of the church on the left-hand side.