St Thomas of Canterbury, Woodford Green

Introduction

St Thomas of Canterbury in Woodford Green, in the Diocese of Brentwood, was consecrated on 7 July 1896.

History

The foundation stone was laid on 18 May 1895 by Cardinal Vaughan. In 1917 the archdiocese of Westminster was divided and Bernard Nicholas Ward appointed Administrator Apostolic of the newly formed diocese of Brentwood. In 1917 a separate parish was formed at Our Lady of Lourdes in Wanstead. In 1919 Our Lady of Grace and St Teresa at Chingford was formed.

In 1931, Ivy Lodge, a mansion to the south of the church, was bought anonymously and given to the Friars and became a parish centre. In January 1932, a new altar and 13 more stalls were installed whilst panelling in the choir, warped due to dampness, was removed. In 1933 new vestments and candlesticks were bought and the organ's hydraulic system overhauled. In 1941 the church bell was inspected and strengthened and two crosses in front of the church were removed.

The Hainault parish was formed in 1952. In December 1968, the Bishop commissioned the new parish of St Anne Line in South Woodford. In 1970, the Friars were permitted to celebrate Sunday Mass at St Stephen's Chapel, Albert Way, Buckhurst Hill. In November 1980, the parish adopted the renewal programme sponsored by the Movement For a Better World.

A newsletter called Friary Newsletter was published in May 1948 under the auspices of the Franciscans. In September 1967 the newsletter was re-issued under the title This Week.

Architecture and furnishings

When the sanctuary was re-ordered in the 1970s, the original main altar was removed and replaced by a new altar facing the congregation made of Westmorland slate and Clipsham stone. The feast day of 4th October 2001 was the occasion of a welcome to the Provincial Minister and the Curia of the Order which had moved here three days previously following the closure of the Forest Gate mission.

In February 2009, St Thomas of Canterbury was certified by CAFOD and the Fairtrade Foundation as a Fairtrade parish. Canon Alexander Scoles, a priest of the Clifton diocese, designed the church, and a contract was drawn up on 2 April 1895. The church was built in the early English style with a nave, two aisles, two side chapels, a porch, an organ gallery over the sanctuary, and a choir behind for 40 friars. At the refurbishment, the private chapel behind the high altar was opened up and can be seen through three glazed screens, two of which are doors into the chapel.

The bronze door of the tabernacle has a golden grille with the lettering 'Ecce Agnus Dei' and around the door a mosaic pattern containing symbols of five barley loaves and two fishes. The chapel contains six windows, each with a Franciscan saint; the two centre windows are of St Francis and St Clare. The four other windows in the chapel portray Sts Didacus, John Capistrano, Bonaventure and Pascal Baylon. The second fanlight window on the right side shows St Rose of Viterbo preaching to the people there; she died in 1252 at the age of seventeen.

The third fanlight shows Our Blessed Lord presenting a ring to St Clare to signify her marriage to a heavenly bridegroom. A relief over the second confessional shows the Sacred Heart of Jesus in a wreath of thorns. The chapel of St Francis has a statue of St Thomas of Canterbury at its entrance.

Music and liturgy

St Thomas’ Music Group has expanded to include a clarinet and developed its own style which continues to owe much to its origins. A traditional choral mass is led by the choir with congregational participation; the choir sings on three weeks out of four and provides music at Easter, Remembrance Sunday and Christmas.

In 1939, when Father Agnellus gave a mission, 450 people attended mass at St Thomas of Canterbury with a further 160 at Chigwell Convent. An entry in the parish register for 1955 says that a number of Sunday Masses in the parish had risen to 10: five in the church, two at Chigwell, one at Buckhurst Hill, one at the Poor Clares' Convent and one at Claybury Hospital.

Parish life

The parish of St Thomas' covers Woodford Green, Woodford Bridge, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill, with an estimated 2,000 Catholic households served from three Mass centres, and is divided into 58 zones. The parish has a Confirmation programme for students registered in the parish in Year 10 and any other parish member over 15 who has not been confirmed.

The parish has a newsletter prepared weekly, with articles to be submitted to the Parish Office by Wednesday each week. The parish has a Becket Centre that parishioners may apply to hire for social events.

The parish has a Catholic Women's League that organises visits to the old and infirm. The Catholic Women's League organises parish bazaars and fetes which have become annual events.

Sacraments and pastoral care

The parish youth club, formally begun in 1956, met in the Memorial Hall in High Road, Woodford before moving to Ivy Lodge and taking the nickname of Ivy Lodgers. The Parochial Entertainments Committee was set up in July 1947 as a forum for lay involvement. The Guild of the Blessed Sacrament was last revived in 1961. The Catholic Parents Electors' Association, formed in the parish, in 1973 put forward a plan for the entire site to be razed and a new church and parish centre to be built.

Visiting

The chapel is open for private prayer and is the place where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved. The Transitus, a traditional Franciscan ceremony remembering the death of Francis, is celebrated at Woodford on 31st October every year.

Tea and coffee are served after Sunday Mass in the Becket Centre. The Confirmation wall is located at the back of the church.