The St Bernadette Proposed Mission Ad Hoc Committee meeting was held on the 25th of November 23 at Knaphill and decided on the following 2024 action plans.
Syro-Malabar English Mass
An additional Syro-Malabar Mass in English for our younger generation will be started from the new year onwards. The proposed day for this would be every 1st Saturday of the month, the inaugural day being 6th January 2024 (Saturday). Additional catechism classes will also be arranged on the same day. It is expected to increase the involvement and participation of our children in the mass. It is proposed that the choir and mass practice in English will be given in Zoom meetings.
Mission Website
It was decided to set up a website for the St Bernadette Mission in the new year 2024. The website is intended to include monthly newsletters with message from Fr Abin, the mass timings at various parishes within our Mission, catechism dates and timings, details of contact persons for each parish, contact details of the priest, safeguarding coordinator, links to various prayers, links/ways to donate to the mission, gift aid declaration forms etc.
Activities for Teenagers and young children
Birmingham Sehion group led by Fr Shyju Naduvathani is engaged to make a visit to our mission to do a one-day praise and worship program for our teenagers and young children. This will be held on 17th February 2024 (Saturday) at Knaphill. The program will be done in two groups, one for children in Year groups 7 – 13, and the other for the younger ones. Please block the date for our children.
Safeguarding
Anu Robinson from Woking is the designated Safeguarding Coordinator for our Mission. A safeguarding audit is scheduled to be held in the mission on 19th February 2024. We will make sure that all volunteers working with children, young people and vulnerable adults in our mission are DBS verified. We are also making sure that all parents submit their consent forms for sending their children for Catechism, which is part of the safeguarding principles. It is recommended that there is one Safeguarding coordinator for each parish centre. The trustees will check whether there are any social workers, or anyone interested in joining as safeguarding co-ordinators in their respective parishes.
Honouring Silver Jubilarians of St Bernadette Mission
All married couples in the Mission who has completed 25 or more years of marriage, are welcomed to join the dedicated Holy Mass for them on Sunday 18th February 2024 at St Hughes of Lincoln Church, Knaphill and receive special blessings on this occasion.
Retreat – Grand Mission 2024
Our annual retreat (Grand Mission) will be held on March 16th and 17th (Saturday/Sunday) 2024, at the Saints Peter & John Church 1 Caesars Camp Road, Camberley GU15 4ED. Rev. Fr. Rajeev Pallithara, Ocam will be our preacher. Kindly block your dates in advance. More details to follow
Mother’s Day/Women’s Forum
Mother’s Day for this year is on the 10th of March 2024 (Sunday). Women’s forum will arrange various activities to celebrate Mother’s Day in the Mission. Women’s forum’s lead for the mission is Sini Arun from Aldershot.
Common Mission ‘Perunnal’- St Bernadette Feast Day
A common Mission ‘Perunnal’ in the name of our patron saint St Bernadette will be
celebrated during her feast day every year. For the year 2024, our ‘perunnal’ will be held on the April 21, 2024 (Sunday), as the feast day falls on 16th April, which is a working day. The details will be confirmed in due course. Please block your dates.
First Holy Communion and Confirmation for Children
First holy communion and confirmation of our kids from all the mass centres will be held jointly for the first time on Sunday, May 12, 2024. Rev. Bishop Joseph Srampickal has kindly consented to our request to be the celebrant for the mass on that day. This will be held at the Our Lady Help of Christians Church at West Byfleet at 03:30 PM. Please contact the trustees from each centre and confirm if your child is interested in receiving their first holy communion and confirmation. They will also receive the First Holy Communion and Confirmation certificates from our Eparchy, which are valid to be used in the UK and rest of the world; for example, for school admissions to catholic schools in the UK.
Summer Barbecue
It is planned to hold a summer barbecue involving all the members and their families who are part of the St Bernadette Mission. This will be held on the 13th of July 2024, Saturday, at the Normandy Village Hall (GU3 2DE). Please block your dates in advance.
Catechism Day
Catechism Day will be celebrated by taking the kids on a summer day trip and/or by
coordinating some activities depending on their age and collective interests. This is scheduled to be held during August when the school holidays begin. Details to follow.
One Mission – One group
We would like to bring all Syro-Malabar community members under one roof, ‘St
Bernadette’s mission WhatsApp group’. We would encourage all those who have not
submitted the parish registration forms to do so and become part of the group. As our Mission relies on donations for all parish activities, such as payment of church fees in all four parishes, hire charges of Presbytery, allowance for our Priest, and running various community projects within our Mission, we welcome voluntary donations/standing orders from all those who have not yet started doing so. Most of the members have already set up a standing order of £20 per month (Thank you all for that!). But if you haven’t started yet, you can set it up for a lower amount depending upon your circumstances, and remember, it is purely voluntary
PDF version of this document: Mission 2024
