Our Churches

What is a Parish?

‘A Parish is a stable community of the faithful within a particular church whose pastoral care has been entrusted to a parish priest, under the authority of the diocesan bishop.’ (CIC, 515)

The above canon describes a parish as ONE stable community, which is formed within a ‘particular Church’. A particular church is not a building, as it is mistaken so frequently. A particular church is what we call a Diocese. The Bishop is the pastor of the whole diocese, who appoints a priest as pastor (parish priest) of a parish.

Our Parish of Saint John Henry Newman was founded in 2010 and includes two churches, St Wulstan’s in Totteridge and Our Lady of Grace in Booker. Originally, these two churches were two distinct parishes, which were merged together into ONE single Parish. Prior to May 2012 it also included two chapels (Mass centres), St Edmund Campion’s in Hazlemere and St James the Great’s in Downley. Following the decision for the Parish to be served by a single priest, final Masses were held at St Edmund Campion’s and St James the Great’s on Sunday 13th May 2012.

The historical notes at the foot of this page, on the chapels of St James the Great and St Edmund Campion, may be of interest to parishioners, in particular residents of the Downley and Hazlemere areas.

Details of Masses and all other activities will be found in our weekly Newsletter. The most recent edition can be downloaded by clicking the link at the top of this page.

St Wulstan’s

Hollis Road, Totteridge, HP13 7UN

St Wulstan's RC Church Totteridge High Wycombe
interior of st wulstan's church, totteridge
interior of st wulstan's RC church, totteridge
millennium tapestry, st wulstan's church totteridge

Our Lady of Grace

Squirrel Lane, Booker, High Wycombe HP12 4RY

Our Lady of Grace RC church, booker
worship at Our Lady of Grace Church, Booker
tabernacle at our lady of grace church, booker
Millennium tapestry at Our Lady of Grace church, Booker

St James the Great

St James The Great Church, Downley

Pictured above, the present church of St James The Great was a shared place of worship and social gathering that met the needs of both Anglican and Catholic communities in Downley from 1975 until 2012. Sadly, the ownership of St James The Great buildings now rests solely with the Church of England, following a Final Mass on Sunday 13th May 2012.


St Edward Campion

St Edmund Campion Church

In 1981, Bishop Grant asked Fr George Foley to oversee the building of a church. It was opened on 23 July 1982 and blessed by Canon Diamond (Vicar General) as Bishop Grant had by then retired. The church was dedicated to the most local of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales: St Edmund Campion.


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