EVANGELISATION CAFE (OLDE FORGE CAFE)
Webmaster • January 26, 2026
Part of our parish response to the words of Fr Jim McManus (see this week’s ’Thought for the Week’) is the existence of our Evangelisation Cafe. The Cafe is, first and foremost, a way of encouraging new people who do not yet know the Lord Jesus, to get to know him through us. The Cafe as a place where retired people can have somewhere to go is not the reason for its existence. Nonetheless, of course, we do hope that the many retired people living in our area have meaningful and happy lives and feel that they can get to know the Lord Jesus through us, in the Cafe. Our Cafe is simply an attempt to break out of an inward-looking pastoral strategy built on maintaining things, to an outward-looking pastoral strategy built on ‘mission’, which is the very task that the Lord lays upon the shoulders of every adult Catholic person in our parish. The Cafe is not a place for us to simply sit down and enjoy sponsored food and drinks. It is, rather, a place where each of us is asked by the Lord to bring someone we know, but that someone we bring is to be a person who doesn’t yet know the Lord and his Church. The success of this project is entirely in our hands. Hopefully, one day, the Lord will say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Now, enter into my Kingdom, your work for me is done.”? Social Workers do great work but we are not Social Workers; we are Missionaries of the Lord Jesus.
July 25/26 5pm Simone; 9am Maggie; 11am Mary, Lisa, Jim(H) August 1/2: 5pm Paul Mould; 9.00am Jim;11.00am Paul Donovan, Giannina, Gaberielle(H) 8/9: 5pm Patricia; 9.00am Lesley;11.00am Regina, Patrick, Lizzie(H) 15/16 : 5pm Lorenza; 9.00am Simone; 11.00am Ross, David, Maggie(H) 22/23 : 5pm Marian; 9.00am Phil; 11.00am Angela, Phil, Margaret(H) 29/30: 5pm Simone; 9.00am Lesley;11.00am Mary, Jim, Thank you to our wonderful Ministers of the Eucharist who have accepted the Lord’s invitation to this awesome, sacred ministry, by their willingness to give up their own plans and convenience in order to do God’s will rather than their own. Let us pray for them because they too fight the same personal weaknesses we all have to fight against and they too have to fight the same temptations we all have to fight. God be with them.
OLDE FORGE CAFE BAKERS/PROVIDERS ROTA JULY 2026 4: Lizzie 11: Maggie Bowes 18: Giannina 25: Chinwe AUGUST 2026 1: Caroline 8: Kim 15: Vanessa 22: Chinwe 29: Soph Please, if possible, could you provide enough cakes for the whole of each week. Thank you to everybody who is helping to provide cakes. To avoid having too many cakes, Coral mentioned to me that non-perishable cakes can be safely stored in the Cafe for a short while. When it is your turn to provide a non-perishable cake, please bring your cake to the Cafe a few days before the date of your turn. OLDE FORGE CAFE - HOSTS ROTA JULY 2026 4: Ross, David 5: Jim, Patricia 7: Jenny, Collette 11: Phil, Mary 12: Regina, Patrick 14: Lorenza, Marian 18: Maggie, Simone 19: Emmanuala, Giannina 21: Gaberielle, Paul 25: Jenny, Lizzie 26: Lorenza, David 28: Marian, Ross AUGUST 2026 1: Maggie Bowes, Giannina 2: Lizzie, Paul Mould 4: Collette, Gaberielle 8: Patricia, Mary 9: Maggie Bailey, Jim 11: Ross, Regina 15: Simone, Marian 16: Emmanuala, Lorenza 18: David, Maggie Bowes 22: Phil, Patrick 23: Giannina, Lizzie 25: Paul Mould, Collette 29: Jim, Gaberielle 30: Patricia, Maggie Bailey Please note that for each of the above dates when the Cafe is open, one of the two Hosts has been trained in the use of the new coffee machine. Please would that trained person be the only person operating the machine and also please train the other person in its use. Many thanks. Thank you to everybody who acts as a Host. If an unexpected emergency occurs on the date you are scheduled to be a Host, please don’t worry about the Cafe. No need to try to find someone to ‘stand in’ for you. There is no need whatsoever to ‘swop’ with someone! We are not a Business, having to stay open to make money! - we open when and if we can. We take this role of ‘Host’ as a Vocation from the Lord to be his Missionary and his Prophet. Actually, the Cafe has, at times, functioned well with just one Host. The success of our Evangelisation Cafe depends on us. The more we speak to others of our Cafe, inviting them to visit us, the more successful it will be. Please invite members of your families, your friends, your neighbours and colleagues. Please check when it is your turn to be a Host (or a Baker!). Please see this role as a Calling, a Vocation from the Lord which you are generously telling the Lord you will do”. Thank you so much for your trust in the good Lord
On Sunday 7th February 2027, Bishop Gerard will be joining us for our 10.30am holy Mass. During that holy Mass, Bishop Gerard will celebrate the great Sacrament of Confirmation for us. Please would anyone who has not yet received the Sacrament of Confirmation in her or his life, speak with me. This is a great opportunity to receive the gifts of God’s Holy Spirit in this Sacrament. The Holy Spirit comes upon us to give us gifts, like Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Gentleness, Self-Control, Perseverance, Wisdom, Generosity, Humility and Courage and many more. These are the gifts that we all need to live real, adult, mature lives of Faith in this world. We will shortly begin a series of meetings to help those who will be preparing to receive this Sacrament. Please let know in the next few weeks if you would like to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation on Sunday 7th February next year, when Bishop Gerard visits us.
AUGUST 1/2: 5pm Lisa; 9.00am Mike;11.00am Mutsa 8/9: 5pm Chris; 9.00am Gerry; 11.00 Lorenza 15/16: 5pm Collette; 9.00am Chris; 11.00am Jim 22/23: 5pm Mike; 9.00am Lizzie; 11.00am Paul Donovan 29/30: Maggie; 9.00am David
I would like to make you aware of a new type of scam that is now targeting individuals within our parish communities through WhatsApp. Cyber criminals are increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI) to create convincing videos, voice messages and written communications while impersonating members of the clergy. Their aim is to deceive unsuspecting individuals into believing they are communicating with a priest, bishop, or other Parish representative before requesting money or donations. • Never assume that a WhatsApp message or video is genuine simply because it appears to come from a member of the clergy. • Never send money, gift cards or bank details in response to unsolicited requests received via WhatsApp or other messaging platforms. • Always verify the identity of the sender by contacting the priest or parish directly using a known telephone number or official email address before responding to any request. • Report any suspicious messages and the phone numbers to Action Fraud https://www.reportfraud.police.uk/.
Please renew or sign up for Gift Aid. Thank you to everyone who has already done so. Please use the QR you will find on this Newsletter. Any difficulties, please let me know. Gift Aid enables us to claim an extra 2 5p for every £1 you give, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your generosity in support of your parish.
Following the notice in the Newsletter asking you to let me know what time yu think is best for us to celebrate holy Mass on Tuesdays, there does not seem to be a reason why we should have holy Mass in the early Evening. So, we will return to having holy Mass on Tuesdays, in the Mornings, at the usual time of 9.30am preceded 9.00am by Morning Prayer and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
We now know that there is no obligation on any parish within the Archdiocese of Southwark to lose a Sunday holy Mass. The Archbishop and his Advisors are simply suggesting that some parishes may wish to reduce their number of Sunday holy Masses during the Summer months. Some of our local parishes are taking this option. My feeling though is that since there is now no obligation upon us to reduce our Sunday holy Mass schedule, we simply continue with our normal three Sunday holy Masses - i.e our Sunday Vigil holy Mass on Saturdays at 5.00pm and then two holy Masses on Sundays at 9.00am and 11.00am. I know this will please some of the members of our parish. I will continue to do my best to celebrate three Sunday holy Masses for you, for as long as I can. So, our Sunday holy Mass times will be as normal next weekend and going forward into the future. May I ask everyone, in return, to please offer to become a Host in our Olde Forge Evangelisation Cafe which would be a great help. In fact, it would be very helpful indeed if someone offered to help us to manage the Cafe, to handle the day to day practical arrangements. Please let me know if you would do this.
Benedict for helping to update our parish website Marian for her kindness All our Hosts and all the Bakers/Providers for our Olde Forge Evangelisation Café
