A service took place to mark the opening of the Irenaeus centre at the parish church of St Thomas of Canterbury on Sunday 11th September, which has been planned for over two and a half years.

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Following the closure of St Thomas of Canterbury church in 2020, the new centre has now opened and will operate as a centre for spirituality and outreach.

Fr Chris Thomas, Director of spirituality project the Irenaeus Project, will be running the centre with his team. Fr Chris and the Irenaeus team have been praying for, and planning to open, the centre for over two years. Now it is open, they are keen for their outreach to reach many more people and to make full use of the new facilities.

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Fr Chris expressed his relief and delight that the centre is now open.

“We have worked with contractors, decorators, plumbers and surveyors until, finally, on Sunday 11th September we were ready to open our doors,” he said.

“It was wonderful to see people coming into our building with their mouths open and eyes wide with delight as they looked around. We listened as people shared words like ‘beautiful’ and ‘breathtaking.’ One woman said: ‘This should be a model for what can be done with church buildings.’”

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Along with Masses and services, the centre’s outreach will include work with people with dementia and their carers. There is also ample space for counselling, a food bank, work with the elderly and the disabled, a bookshop and a drop in for coffee and chat for the lonely.

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The afternoon began with Mass, where a supportive letter from Archbishop Malcolm McMahon, who was unable to be present, was read out. “At the time of much change in the Church and in society at large, the need for the Irenaeus project becomes more necessary,” the Archbishop wrote.

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During the homily, Fr. Chris spoke about the vision for the Irenaeus Centre and his hopes for it.

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“I think Pope Francis is trying to free us from being a stale bureaucratic institution obsessed with power and control and numbers, and property, rules, regulations, and move us towards being a Spirit-led church that talks more about mercy than sin; a church that is, as Pope Francis says, a field hospital for sinners, not a museum of saints,” he said.

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“That’s what we hope this place will become. Yes, a place where people who want to, can come and pray and reflect and discover a God of ultimate mercy and compassion, but also a place where those who have experienced alienation and those to whom life has dealt a rough hand can come and be met with that same mercy and compassion.”

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The Irenaeus Centre is open from 10 till 4 every day and Fr. Chris is encouraging people to visit.

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“There is space to pray in our oratory,” he said.

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“There is space to sit and be and have conversations and there is space to meet and have courses and experiences. Please feel free to come along and spend some time with us.”