Welcome to our parish’s website.

You cross the digital threshold of a parish that lives at the heart of the city of Bath. The sheer height of the spire and the beauty of our Church speak and radiate the presence of Christ to this magnificent city. All that we do here as a parish community is about living the Gospel of Christ and proclaiming his Good News to those who come here and all whom we encounter through the ordinary lives we lead.

Our Church is open to welcome you as you visit or as you come to enter into the stillness and tranquillity of the place for a moment of prayer. The website and our Facebook page allow you to enter into the life of the community – albeit digitally and virtually - so as to connect you with the people who use this place regularly and find their sense of peace here, too.

The website and Facebook posts are not, though, just about offering information; they are about keeping people in touch with the parish community and with one another. This unique time of COVID-19 has seen parish boundaries stretched not just across a city but across countries and it has been encouraging to hear from people across the world linked up to St John’s still. It will be good to welcome people back to Mass across the Season of Advent and our celebration of the birth of Jesus this Christmas.

Much is still on hold but that doesn’t stop us from being a people of prayer and a people of hope and charity. These Advent months bid us to be attentive and to open to the Lord who seeks to come anew into our lives. We can listen to his word and we can prepare our lives to welcome him anew and let him find a home within us. We can encounter him still in those we reach out to and in those we seek to support. Now it is still important to care for one another and support one another, too. Hopefully as we continue to emerge from our period of lockdown those relationships that have been built up will witness a continuation of reaching out to others. Many will continue to feel isolated and cut off, alone and afraid. The warmth of human compassion and kindness is what needs to shine through these dark and dreary weeks of lockdown.

Our Church is open for the celebration of Mass (from December 3rd) but it is also open for moments of prayer and stillness before the Blessed Sacrament. The sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) is celebrated each weekday evening (5pm-6pm) and also on Saturdays. Just keep an eye on the newsletter for those fuller details.

Do come and visit. You’ll find the opening times of the church on the weekly newsletter and whilst they may be limited, the Church does offer you the chance to come into the presence of God and know that he is near. As things change week by week nationally, you’ll find we are open to enable you to find something of God’s peace and presence in this beautiful place. If you are in town and can pop into Church then I look forward to bumping into you sometime soon.

May the God who seeks to come into our lives watch over each and every one of us, and remind us – always – that he is near.