Welcome to The Family of Birchley St Mary’s
Address: St Mary's RC Church, Birchley, Billinge, Wigan, Lancs. WN5 7QJ
Telephone: 01744 892227
Enjoy your visit - This website is for all parishioners of Birchley St Mary’s Church, past, present and future, and anyone with an interest in the Catholic Church, our History, or our ongoing activities.
Objectives - As a thriving parish we are continually developing in line with the many ongoing changes taking place in the Roman Catholic Church, especially following the outcome and directives of the Second Vatican Council, Vatican II, and through this website we hope to keep everyone informed. Details of the wide variety of parish activities are included together with contacts and opportunities to join the various groups.
You are invited to join our Birchley St Mary’s Parish On-Line Group - a friendly, informal On-Line Group for our viewers and parishioners to share views and opinions on all issues concerning the Catholic Church, the way we at Birchley St Mary’s respond to Vatican II, the role of our Priests, Deacons, Lay Ministers, and parishioners’ involvement in our groups - your comments, suggestions and support will be greatly valued.
'The Family of Birchley'
A concept recognised and developed by our previous Parish Priest, Fr Ashton, who sensed the true 'family spirit' of the parishioners of Birchley St Mary's - a spirit formed by the closeness of the village community and our shared Faith, nurtured by the invaluable roles played by our much-loved Catholic Church and excellent Catholic Primary School in forging lasting bonds between the adults and children of successive generations.
One particular event, remembered well by all those that participated in it, typifies the 'Family' nature of the relationships developed in our parish in Fr Ashton's time. An unlikely event too - many would consider - in that its main purpose was to ask for money! The event was the introduction of the Covenant Scheme that would enable parishioners to register their regular contributions to the Church as charitable donations, on which tax refunds could be claimed - effectively increasing their value to the Church. Fr Ashton never liked asking the parish for money. He always praised our ongoing generosity and whenever he had to raise funds for specific items he did so most apologetically. However, the new Covenant Scheme was different, in that it did not implicitly ask for increased donations but merely to formally register what was already being given - so that was alright!
To 'sell' this idea Father Ashton agreed to host a full Parish Dinner - Free of Charge - at the largest venue in the district (the prestigious Co-op Ballroom, St Helens). It was a tremendous occasion and a great success. It brought us all together socially, many of us for the first time, sharing a meal with people we had previously maybe only 'nodded to' outside church or in the village. Many friendships and relationships formed at this event still flourish today, truly embodying The Family of Birchley spirit, even though some may now have left the village and even live overseas, the friendships are still valued and maintained.
This special occasion was also used to introduce our Primary School's new young headmaster, Brian McGuiness, who hobbled in with his foot in plaster adding to his macho-footballer's image and raising expectations of what was to come - his subsequent years of service spanned the school lives of many of our parishioners and their children, and he still lives in retirement in the village.
Our beautiful countryside location and our highly valued RC church and school proved an irresistible combination for many young couples at the start of their married lives in the 1950's - 70's and beyond, and to a considerable extent it is still doing so, even today!
The Family of Birchley lives on, well supported by our own Birchley St Mary's Primary School under the inspiration and dedication of its 'new' headteacher, John Leake (who retired Summer 2007), and by our church under the guidance and leadership of our 'new' Parish Priest, Fr Bernard (Jackson), who on arrival at Birchley in 1995 promised to prepare us for the 21st Century - and he did! Out went the high altar, altar rails and pulpit, and in came a new altar table, lectern, celebrant's chair and a new raised sanctuary floor, together with an extended full-width choir balcony, centrally located Baptismal Font and a completely new set of pews - providing a central aisle for the first time in our church. In addition to this physical Re-Ordering Fr Bernard has encouraged the activities of existing Parish Groups and also instituted new ones, providing many opportunities for greater involvement of parishioners in the activities of the church.
If you live in or near our village, whatever your interests, you are sure to find that by becoming an active member of our parish you will make many new friends. And you will be rewarded by the satisfaction of using your abilities and skills to improve the quality of life for so many through the Church. Come and get involved - you'll love it!
Using the Site - The site is intended to be very easy to use.
-
Click on rotating What's New - Top left corner - regularly, for latest Announcements.
-
Click Buttons on the left to view Sections of Interest - if no Buttons are visible, click BSM Home to restore full screen presentation.
-
Click on the Birchley St Mary's title at the top of your screen to return to the Welcome page from anywhere on the site.
-
Use Top-of-Page Buttons and Arrows eg
in long pages to help navigation. -
Click Underlined Text to call-up other Sections or Websites - to return, click any of our Buttons, or use Back, or Close (X) on your browser.
-
Adjust text size to your preference by Ctrl/mouse-wheel or View/Text Size in your browser.
-
Best viewed using MS Internet Explorer ver 5.5 or later.
Site Development -
With your help we hope to continually develop this site as a dynamic source of useful information on all matters relating to the Church and our parish. Please let us know of any changes or additions you would like us to make to improve our service.
We offer three ways to HELP US HELP YOU ENJOY OUR SITE:-
1) - One-Click for confidential direct Email:- Webmaster
2) - Use our Guestbook:- Sign our Guestbook or Read our Guestbook
3) - Use our On-Line Group:- Birchley St Marys Parish On-Line Group
where all issues, ideas and recommendations can be freely discussed.