PARISH IN Focus: THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CHURCH: PORTSWOOD, SOUTHAMPTON

The many facets of faith
irHE IMMACULATE Conception Church stands on the top of a slope on the intersec
tion of two roads. On one side of the road is a chip shop; on the other a newsagent. The church comes after a short run of oldfashioned shop fronts and terraces, standing bold and tall at the roadside. No fence, no spacious grounds set it back from the street. The church does not retreat from the street, but takes its place on it.
This engagement goes beyond architecture. As I walk to the front of the church, I hear the happy sounds of a wedding party and glimpse hats and cameras through a cloak of trees. A horse and trap waits outside. On this sunny day the Church is the centre of activity and community life.
Fr Tom McGrath has barely had time to doff his vestments when I arrive. With the wedding party very nearly dispersed, he sits in the presbytery living room. Fr McGrath has been at the Church for just over two years and is the eighth priest in the parish's 66 years. Veronica White, a parishioner with detailed knowledge of the Church, joins us.
The site on which the Church and presbytery now stand was requisitioned in 1909 by Bishop Cahill, the then Bishop of Portsmouth. The early Catholic community worshipped in a wrought iron structure, affectionately known as the 'old tin Church'. After two decades as the "Portswood Mission", it became a fully-fledged parish. Twenty-four years later the present building was erected.
The current church is so arranged that each feature points to a particular parish activity. For example, as you stand at the back of the church you notice a mural with colourful sprouting seeds, a sign of the parish's continuing commitment to a seed program in Ethiopia. On Pentecost Sunday an eight-point pledge was signed by parishioners, committing resources to the needy. This "covenant with the poor" is displayed prominently beside the sanctuary, below an image of a mother and child, designed by a parishioner. The image is a visual focus for the covenant, which has set the parish the ambitious task of raising £10,000 for a community project in Bamenda, Cameroon. Both covenant and seed mural show the unusual importance the parish attaches to external ties. "It began long before it was common for parishes to be outward-looking," comments Veronica White.
Although the Immaculate Conception's eyes are open to the wider world, it does not overlook local needs. The parish has a close connection with the Society of St. Dismas, an organisation caring for the homeless and alcoholics. Started by Fr Patrick Murphy O'Connor in the parish in the 1970s, many parishioners are involved with the society's work. The church has initiated many other social programmes, such as a luncheon club for senior citizens and support groups for the divorced, the bereaved and women with pregnancy and abortion difficulties. The parish' also contributes both financially and practically to a Sunday lunch and soup-run programme for the homeless. Welfare activities aside, the church also has a strong educational thrust, indicated by the bookshop at the back of the Church. Established instruction groups such as the RCIA run beside newer forms of Christian education, such as Alpha. The latter is run in conjunction with the church's larger neighbour, St Edmund's. Fr McGrath explains that his church sees Alpha 'as pre-RCIA, rather than replacing it. The structure is very helpful and gives people a chance to learn basic things about Christianity.' In addition to regular instruction groups, there are opportunities for developing both collective and individual prayer. A prayer group meets regularly with the nuns of the Order of the Immaculate Conception. "Guided prayer" weeks are often held, parishioners voluntarily committing themselves to praying for at least half an hour a day and then discussing their progress with a "prayer guide". "It's given people a new insight into prayer. Some are now praying half an hour a day as a result of those weeks," comments Fr McGrath.
The parish also has strong ties to the local universities. Portswood is a popular location for Southampton's burgeoning student population. Staff and students have read in Church and participated in parish events, such as the parish barbecue. "There'll be a dozen PhDs on Sunday morning," relates Fr McGrath.
The church is further distinguished by its strong musical tradition. Each seat has a copy of a modern hymnal composed by the late Geoffrey Boulton Smith, the erstwhile Music Rector of the Church. Widely known as a "populariser of modern congregation music", he used Portswood as "the testing ground" for many of his compositions, and this lively musical heritage is continued today by a Choir and Instrumen tal Group. The Church organ sits beside the congregation in the nave, reflecting Boulton Smith's view that Church music should involve the congregation as much as possible.
There is much evidence of the congregation's talents in other media. There is a batik wall-hanging in the Lady Chapel created by a parishioner with the help of almost thirty young people. It is an explosion of colour celebrating the Annunciation. Adorning an otherwise plain sanctuary is a long tapestry that forms the backcloth to the altar. It is a patchwork of strong horizontal lines that graduate from dark to light shades, entitled 'The Dawn of Our Redemption'. Fr McGrath likes to read it as the 'light that shines in the darkness' and although he considers the stark brick interior of the Church 'somewhat austere', he admits its impact is softened by careful decoration. The abundance of yellow bouquets further lightens the Church and indicates a strong flower-arranging group. Additionally the Church's cleanliness points to the unsung diligence of its cleaners. The body of the Church rises in an unusual "oriental" pointed arch and the stained glass windows are painted in an abstract Mondrian style. It may not be the most ornate of Churches, but it is simple and welcoming. After all, the Immaculate Conception is a Church that looks outward to the world rather than looking in.
Luke Coppen