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    • Resources - Living with Dementia
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    • Bidding Prayers - 4 week cycle
    • Brief thoughts & prayers for each day
  • Chantry Chapel
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YOUR CART

Thursday 22nd May 2025
Day Conference

'Christians and Assisted Dying'
​organised by The Guild of All Souls in conjunction with The Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham

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40 people attended this conference held at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham and introduced by the Guild Chantry Priest, Bishop Robert Ladds. Thanks to our speakers for their thought-provoking and informative presenatiions:
  • Fr Andreas Wenzel, VIce-Principal and Director of Pastoral Studies, St Stephen's House, Oxford, spoke on 'Incarnation - What does it mean for us?' Click here to access his Powerpoint presentation.
  • Teresa Lynch, RN MSc, President, Association of Catholic Nurses for England and Wales, spoke on: 'Attitudes to Death - What should we think?' Click here to access her Powerpoint presentation.
  • Dr Simon Eyre, MA, FRCP, FRCGP GP (ret'd) and a member of the C of E General Synod, could not be present in person, but recorded an introduction  to the recording of the Church of England General Synod debate on Assisted Dying, - a private members' bill which he had proposed in June 2022. You can access the full debate if you click here
Thursday 7th November 2024
​St Stephen's Gloucester Road, London SW7 4RL

Annual General Meeting - 6pm
in St Stephen's Church Hall, Emperor Gate

Annual Solemn Requiem Mass - 7pm
Preacher:
Fr Christopher Smith,
Vicar of St Alban the Martyr, Holborn


- light refreshments will be served afterwards -

Thursday 26th September 2024
Day Conference : Supporting Bereaved Children and Young People
St Wilfrid Cantley, Doncaster  DN4 6QR  - 10.30-3.00pm

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This is especially for school staff, youth workers, priests and members of the community who have an interest in supporting bereaved children.
Amanda Parsons and Lily Dale will be talking about the support offered to bereaved children from a hospice perspective, focussing on resources and their work to support staff in schools etc. They will also be sharing how to support a bereaved child. 
Fr  David Teasdale is a parish priest in Leeds diocese who worked in the funeral profession for 15 years before being ordained. He still acts in a consultancy role for the wider death care profession.
​ Fr Paul Cartwright is a parish priest in Leeds dioces and has experience as a Police Family Liaison Officer (FLO)/ chaplain.  The primary purpose of an FLO is that of an investigator, to gather evidence and information from the family to contribute to the investigation and preserve its integrity. The FLO also provides support and information, in a sensitive and compassionate manner, securing confidence and trust of families of victims of crime (primarily homicide), road fatality, mass disaster or other critical incident, ensuring family members are given timely information in accordance with the needs of the investigation

Recent and Previous Events

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09.30 - Mass (optional) in Chantry Chapel
Conference:
10.45 am – 3.00 pm (including coffee/tea from 10.00 onwards in Norton’s Café and  lunch in the Refectory.

15.15 - (optional) Sprinkling and Healing Ministries in the Shrine Church

35 people attended this immensely thought-provoking and useful conference, exploring the subject of child bereavement and resources available to support grieving children and young people

Keynote speakers:
 Lucy Coote  Community Ambassador and Mental Health Trainer of Rosedale Funeral Homes in Norfolk and Suffolk. Lucy is a bereavement support facilitator; educating people nationally on supporting the bereaved and ensuring others know what support there is both locally and across the UK. She is also a qualified First Aider, Mental Health First Aid Trainer and a member of the Norfolk SPIG (Suicide Prevention Intervention Group): 
Lorna Vyse,  Children's author, specialising in  bereavement support books, and until recently, Families Team Child Bereavement Specialist of charity ‘Scotty’s Little Soldiers’ developing and delivering support to bereaved military children and young people through its four Family Programmes. Previously Lorna worked for ‘Nelson’s Journey’ supporting bereaved children and young people in Norfolk. 
Heidi Foster.  Play Specialist and Wellbeing Team Member - The Nook: - Norfolk Children's Hospice,  part of  East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH) supporting families and caring for children and young people with life-threatening conditions across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk
​


Annual General Meeting and Annual Requiem
Thursday 9 November 2023
 

The Guild's AGM and Requiem were held at St Stephen’s, Gloucester Road. The Solemn Mass was celebrated by the President of The Guild, The Rt Revd Norman Banks, and the preacher was The Rt Revd Paul Thomas, Bishop of Oswestry.  

Annual Mass - St Mary's, West Tofts
26 July 2023


​​Once again many old friends and supporters gathered to fill the church for a beautiful liturgy. A Memorial Mass of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, Parents of Our Blessed Lady, was celebrated by the President of The Guild, The Rt Revd Norman Banks, and Chantry Priest, Bishop Robert Ladds SSC. The preacher was Father Harri Williams. Splendid choral accompaniment was provided by the Horatio Singers. Refreshments kindly prepared by Maureen Howard were served afterwards.

St Mary’s, West Tofts, contains a chancel and chapel by Pugin and is under the patronage of The Guild of All Souls. Situated in Thetford Forest, near Mundford, the village was compulsorily abandoned in WW2, since when it has been part of the Army’s Stanford battle training area. The church, the only complete building which remains, is usually inaccessible to the public. Two services are permitted each year; a carol service in Advent arranged locally and the Mass arranged by The Guild each Summer.

2023 Day Conferences

                                                                  How are you doing? ...
​                      exploring the reality of mental health and a Christian response to it

The conferences were held in May at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham and in September at St Wilfrid Cantley, Doncaster.  They were led by Mrs Michaela Suckling,  RGN, a Parish Nurse of St Matthew Carver Street, Sheffield, and The Revd Canon Paul Cartwright,  Parish Priest of the Priory Benefice in the Diocese of Leeds, a Police Officer and Mental Health First Aider. Issues explored included:  
  • Myth busting mental health issues
  • How poor mental health can present
  • How to discuss mental health and thoughts of suicide and when to seek help
  • Having solution-focused conversations
For those who wished to participate, healing ministries with prayer, laying on of hands and annointing were offered after the conference had finished. The conference booklet can be downloaded here.  It contains details of over 40 helplines, websites & apps for help & support in issues affecting wellbeing and mental health. 

21st September 2023 - St Wilfrid Cantley, Doncaster

11th May 2023 - Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham


15th March 2023

150th Anniversary Celebration at St Stephen's, Gloucester Road 
'O Valiant Hearts': The First World War, the Church of England and Prayer for the Dead - a lecture prepared by Fr Robert Beaken and delivered on his behalf by Dr Colin Podmore MBE
Sung Mass of Thanksgiving  celebrated by the Bishop of Richborough
Reception and Book Launch: 'Father Tooth - a Biographical Memoir'  

Father Tooth
a biographical memoir

Reissued to celebrate the Guild's 150th anniversary
Charles E Lee’s 1931 memoir of the Guild’s first President
is now available with a new introduction by ​Colin Podmore. 
Click here for more details.
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Click here to read Colin Podmore’s short address on the re-issue
of the booklet and the
founding of the Guild of All Souls, given at the Guild’s 150th Anniversary celebration on
15 March 2023. 


Annual Requiem - 2022

The Guild's Annual Requiem was held on Thursday 10th November 2022 at St Stephen's, Gloucester Road. 

​The preacher was Father Philip Barnes, Vicar of St Stephen's.

Click here to read his sermon.
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All Souls Day
2nd November
​Mass livestreamed from the Chantry Chapel

On Wednesday 2nd November at 10.00am the Mass for All Souls Day was live-streamed from The Guild of All Souls Chantry Chapel. The Mass was broadcast on Facebook, YouTube and the Shrine's website and the recording continues to be available.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShrineOLW/ (click on livestream or video)
​YouTube: https://bit.ly/36WUrMk ​
The Shrine website: 
https://www.walsinghamanglican.org.uk/whatson-2/livestream/
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GAS Day Conference: 19th May 2022 
 

'When a Child has Died'
exploring pastoral, practical and spiritual care for grieving families

Some photos from this recent event are below and you can read two of the talks by clicking the relevant underlined title:
​ ‘Practical and Pastoral Support for Bereaved Families’ 
Dr Margaret Brearley, Trustee of The Compassionate Friends
.
​We include a link to the website of The Compassionate Friends, a long-established charity supporting bereaved parents, on the Bereavement Resources  page
‘Liturgies and Spiritual Resources’
Mrs Anne Gray, Trustee of The Guild of All Souls

​ Click the Link to the order of service for a Service of Light  which may be used or adapted  in any way which might be helpful. The service is for those bereaved of a child of any age and of any cause, however long ago, 
The first talk was entitled:  ‘The Pain of Child Bereavement – a Personal Journey’ 
by The Revd Fr Paul Jones, parish priest and Treasurer of The Guild of All Souls. It was given extempore and we hope to include some notes when they have been written up.
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Click here for links to The Compassionate Friends and other organisations and charities offering support in bereavement.
We include some photos taken during the conference below.

Online Conference
​24th June 2021: 
'Living with Dementia'

The annual day conference on this most important subject  was broadcast online via Zoom  from the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham.
You can see the three excellent presentations and the Mass which took place beforehand  under the relevant headings below.
 Thanks to Fr Kevin Smith, Caroline Ward and Venetia Davies of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham for helping to facilitate the conference.

For accompanying resources - articles, websites, helplines and recommended books kindly provided by the speakers, click here
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Mass from the Guild of All Souls Chapel : 24th June 2021

Spiritual and Pastoral Care of those with Dementia
​
The Revd Dn Corinne Smith, 
Former Hospital and Hospice Chaplain for Older People's Medicine

Is your church dementia friendly?
​Maureen O'Neill, Director of 'Faith in Older People'

Living with Loss
Zena Aldridge, Research Fellow, Dementia UK, Hon. Lecturer University of East Anglia


All Souls Day, 2nd Nov 2020
Requiem Mass
 ​from the Guild of All Souls' Chantry Chapel of St Michael and the Holy Souls, Walsingham.

Celebrant and Preacher: The Revd Canon Andrew Greany, SSC, Chantry Priest.
The recording, made on 2nd November,  courtesy of the Shrine OLW, can still be accessed by clicking on the adjacent  image of the Chantry Chapel
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Annual Mass at West Tofts
24th June 2019

The Celebrant of the Mass on a gloriously hot Summer evening was the President of The Guild, The Rt Revd Norman Banks, Bishop of Richborough and the preacher was Fr Andrew Greany, Chantry Priest of The Guild. The setting for the Mass was Byrd Mass for Four Voices, rendered beautifully by the Horatio Singers, who once again voluntarily offered their services in helping to make this such an uplifting occasion.
Refreshments kindly prepared by Maureen Howard were served in the churchyard afterwards.
​
[Photographs below courtesy of Graham Howard.]
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2019 Day Conference:
​
'Now and at the Hour of our Death'...​ .The Church's Ministry of Healing

*The 2019 day conference at Walsingham was held on 27th June at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. Bishop Norman Banks, Bishop of Richborough and President of The Guild welcomed nearly 50 participants.
The following Presentations were given:
  •  ‘Ministry of Healing in the Local Church’  by The Revd Fr Philip Gray SSC, Vicar of Mendlesham, Suffolk;
To read the presentation by Fr Philip Gray, click ​here.*
  • ‘Healing Ministries at Walsingham’ by The Revd Fr Andreas Wenzel SSC, Shrine Priest, Walsingham;
To read the presentation by Fr Andreas Wenzel click here*
  • ​‘Anointing with Holy Oil and the Last Rites’​ by The Revd Fr Peter Needham SSC, recently Chaplain of Barnsley Hospital, now Vicar of Athersley and Carlton, Diocese of Leeds

Published by The Guild of All Souls
30 St Mary's Paddock
Wellingborough
NN8 1HJ
Tel: 07498 778691

​email: [email protected]

UK Charity number 240234
Copyright © 2021