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The parish of St Agatha, Sparkbrook and St Barnabas,
Balsall Heath is a Forward in Faith parish. To find out more click here
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The Congregation and Worship
An
"all-age" worshipping community drawn from the parish, the Diocese
and beyond. This reflects a wide social spectrum. St Agatha's is nationally
famous for it's long and venerable Anglo-Catholic tradition; that section
of Anglicanism which draws on its Catholic roots and looks for its identity
in Catholic faith and worship. The parish in general (and St Agatha's
in particular) continues to witness to this orthodox faith in Birmingham
Diocese and nationally.
Consequently, it has been under the pastoral care of The Bishop of Ebbsfleet
(see www.ebbsfleet.org.uk) and
a member of Forward-in-Faith
-- the international pressure group to maintain orthodox faith within
Anglicanism -- since 1993. Fr John is Clerical Chair of F-in-F Birmingham
Diocese and also a member of The Bishop of Ebbsfleets Council.
Canon Father John Hervé
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Fr
John, Parish Priest of St Agatha with St Barnabas since 1990, was
brought up in Selly Oak. He remembers coming to St Alban's Patronal
Festivals in Fr Harding's time. A postgraduate of Birmingham (Pastoral
Studies) and Wolverhampton (Education) Universities, he was ordained
in 1973 in York. His Title Parish was All Saints, Middlesborough,
an established Catholic "shrine" with a varied parish
(city centre, docks, church schools and hospitals). Not to mention
a certain football club!
Retuming
to his "home" Diocese, he was Parish Priest of St Andrew's,
Handsworth (1981 - 1986). This was amulti-faith, multi-race and
multi-cultural parish which was quite volatile (riots in '81 and
'85). In 1986 Fr John began a five year contract as a Tutor (Pastoral
Studies) at St Stephen's House, Oxford - often regarded as the premier
Anglo-Catholic Seminary, with students from the Anglican Communion
throughout the world, plus exchange students from the Gregorian
University and English College in Rome, and the Orthodox Church.
Responsibilities there included Pastoral Training Programmes for
ordinands and laity, tutoring on pastoral modules for University
courses and the supervision of postgraduate students in Pastoral
Studies.
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Then it was back to Parochial Ministry (which he prefers!). The last 17
years at St Agatha's has been an exciting time for him - in the Parish
and also the Church at large. "Milestones" include the Ordination
of Women to the Priesthood (and its aftermath), the granting of £700,000
by English Heritage for repairs to St Agatha's (a Grade 1 listed building)
and the year of events for the Centenary of St Agatha's in 2003. This
included the Centenary Mass celebrated by The Archbishop of York. In 2005
the completion of the restoration was marked by a special service attended
by TRH The Earl and Countess of Wessex.
He was also
appointed Priest-in-Charge of St Alban's Highgate which inaugurated the
Mission Partnership between the two parishes in February 2005. He was
appointed Honorary Canon of Birmingham Cathedral in April 2005.
After two
years leave of absence Fr John returned to the parish at Eastertide 2008.
His interests
include Wales (he has a cottage near Lake Bala) and he is also an avid
collector of the novels of the inter-war writer Dornford Yates.
Father Robert Warren
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Father
Robert writes:
"I
was brought up at St John's Church, Victoria BC Canada as a chorister
and then as a server. The stained glass window over the Altar depicted
Christ in the Temple. That never left me. After a degree from the
University of BC and an LTh from the Anglican Theological College,
ordained Deacon in 1961, I was appointed to the Lakes Mission (Caledonia
Diocese) in Central BC, a parish with 14 "points" under
Canon and later Bishop John Frame. Read Theology at Keble College
Oxford 1966 - 9 and then moved back to Caledonia Diocese to take
up the appointment of the Parishes of Hazelton, Kitwanga and Kitwancool
(5 "points") and one winter with 6 - St Mark's Church
Stewart BC on the tip of the Alaska/BC border. Except for two of
the churches, the rest were Native Indian, the first Canadians.
In 1974 was appointed Rector of St Barnabas' Church, New Westminster
BC where we developed a large Day Care (Nursery Facility) for children
ages 3 - 12 with SEN at all levels.
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In
1989 we immigrated to the UK where appointed Rector of St Laurence
Parish, Northfield (Birmingham Diocese). The parish included a JI
Elementary School, three form entry (630 pupils) where I was a governor.
I am currently president of the Rotary Club of Lickey Hills, a member
of SSC and of the Societas Sanctae Birgittae in Sweden (SSB).
I am married to Jacqui and have three children
Interests - Was called "Bob the Builder" in previous parish
with a speciality of repairing almost anything and a track record
of four new/repaired kitchens in Anglican churches and rectories.
Enjoy singing (choral and bathtub), and reading - esp liturgics -
and translating which can be a challenge. |
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Father John Hall |
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Father Julian Sampson
Chaplain to HMP Birmingham
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