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Dedication of The Church of St Bede, Basingstoke |
Saturday 26th May 2007 |
(Based on the icon, painted by parishioner Barbara Birt, on to the Paschal Candle at Easter 2007)
Click a thumbnail image below to view a larger image - or browse through all images.
 Clergy of other denominations were welcomed - including the Anglican Bishop of Basingstoke, Trevor Wilmott |
 Choir - led by Mr Paul Inwood, Diocesan Director of Liturgy |
 Servers process in - with Father Steven Restori acting as Master of Ceremonies |
 Bishop Crispian with Bishop Peter Doyle (Northampton) presided |
 The Flower Team arrange the flowers |
 The Paschal Candle is lit by the Bishop and from it all the Dedication candles and Altar candles |
 Gifts of bread and wine brought up by children from St Bede's school |
 Children presenting the gifts to Bishop Crispian for the Liturgy of the Eucharist. |
 Bishop Crispian leads the community in the celebration of the Eucharist |
 Bishop Crispian presents the Church Drawings and Keys to the Parish Pastoral Council and Mgr Vincent Harvey |
 Father Kevin O’Brien (Tadley & Kingsclere) congratulating Mgr Vincent - after presenting the gift of a gold-coloured vestment from his parish |
Thank you to Gary Taylor for the above pictures. More pictures would be very welcome for use on this web site commemorating this momentous event in the life of Holy Ghost Parish.
Preface to the Dedication of the Church of St Bede...Welcome to this celebration: a celebration of the Parish, the Pastoral Area, the Diocese and the Church. Today has been long in coming! Five years ago we began considering the possibility of a new church to respond to the emerging pastoral situation and to the challenge of parish life and demands, The church is roughly in the demographic centre of Holy Ghost Parish, which serves north Basingstoke and all areas to Ramsdell in the west, Hatch in the east and Sratfield Saye in the north. The church design is simple but based on classic ecclesiastical lines, with its enclosed courtyard and cloister linking the complex to the church. The courtyard and cloister provide a space that prepares us to enter the church in a state of mind conducive to worship and prayer. Simple lines, furnished and decorated in black, white and maple, help us to focus on that which is helpful to prayer and worship. The focus as we enter is the Sacrament House, which contains the Blessed Sacrament reserved for the sick, housebound and hospitalised and also provides a focus for private prayer and devotion, a place to stop, to be still and to ponder the mystery of the Incarnation and Resurrection. The Sacrament House is in the form of a burning bush: the Burning Bush of Exodus from which God tells Moses he stands on holy ground. Designed by Terence and Rebecca Clarke especially for this church, it is made from stainless steel, treated so as to give the effect of leaves aflame yet not consumed. We see the Sacramental House over the Baptismal Font; the waters through which we as Christians had to enter in order to participate in the life of the Church and thereby become part of the Body of Christ. Every time we enter the church we bless ourselves and are reminded of the living water, which is Christ himself. The stone altar is designed in a classical style. Behind it is a figure of Christ, designed by Peter Eugene Ball, which evokes images of crucifixion, death, new life and cosmic existence. The fifteen Stations of the Cross on the wall represent stages in the Passion of Jesus (in time we will commission depictions of the Passion; the pictures there now are temporary and acted out be children at the school). The apse for the Virgin Mary is in the south-west wall (a statue will be commissioned; at present an Icon of Our Lady of Faithfulness, given by the Webb family, hangs there). On the plinth outside the apse in the courtyard we will have a statue of St Bede, patron of the church. Feel free to look around the church and note these many interesting features. Please pray for our parish community, which has had to die and rise again as we learn to be one large faith-based community. We are still learning to let go of our old centres, our Masses and our small communities and to become one parish with one centre for our common worship. prayer, social life and parish administration. Monsignor Vincent Harvey View more from the booklet produced for the service of dedication here... |
