St. Joseph

Introduction

St Joseph’s is the Catholic Parish Church for Epsom in the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton.

History

The church celebrated 25 years of its current building on Sunday 3 May, with founding members of the Design and Build Teams welcomed back. A canon described how he had been mentored that the most important factor in the church project was faith, and that he and his team overcame opposition and financial hurdles.

The parish’s Faith in Action mission to the SSSMILE Village in Kerala, south west India, has been running since late 2008. The church is described as a light, spacious and inspiring building.

Parish life

The recent Caribbean evening raised £4,250 for brain tumour research. The Coordination Team was created by a priest to help deliver the parish’s Statement of Aspirations.

The parish statement of aspirations includes a desire for all to ‘participate in spiritually enriching liturgies’. St Joseph’s Parish is part of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, covering all of Surrey, West & East Sussex.

At the Easter Vigil 2025, 18 members of the 2024-25 RCIA Group were welcomed into full communion with the Catholic Church. The CONNECT GROUP has been meeting for about seven years, and in 2020 evolved into a weekly meeting on Zoom.

A parish visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation, West Grinstead, and English Martyrs Church, Goring-by-Sea, was planned for Thursday 5th September 2024. The parish has strong ecumenical links, interested in furthering unity between all Christians.

The parish supports Missio, one of the main charities it supports. The parish has a local ecumenical group.

The parish has a flower arranging team that works on a rota system and works closely together at Christmas and Easter. The parish runs an RCIA programme for adults seeking communion with the Catholic Church, culminating in reception at the Easter Vigil. The parish's Youth Ministry team runs an annual confirmation programme for young people typically in school year 10. The parish runs a marriage preparation course led by experienced married couples and a member of the parish clergy.

The parish has psalm settings composed by Chris Donovan, with Terry Donohoe as cantor. The parish's worshiping community is one of the biggest in Arundel and Brighton. The parish has a deanery that will become a 'moderated' parish in 2026, joining together the nine parishes it contains.

Sacraments and pastoral care

The parish has a bereavement support team of trained volunteers in consolation support. The parish has a bereavement team that can be contacted through the Parish Office.

Visiting

The parish’s social life group organises a variety of social events including bingo sessions, outings, brunch, rugby outings, quiz nights and film nights. The church has a narthex where a sign up sheet for a coach trip was displayed. The church has a hall used for Family Faith Formation gatherings. The church has a hall where a celebration with new parishioners was held.