About us
The parish is not principally a structure, a territory, or a building, but rather, 'the family of God, a fellowship afire with a unifying spirit', 'a familial and welcoming home', the 'community of the faithful' - Saint John Paul II
Holy Innocents' Chapel was opened in Orpington in 1909 and Holy Innocents' became a parish in 1971. We moved down the road to our current church premises in 1981. We are privileged to have both Holy Innocents' Catholic School and a community of the Sisters of Mercy in the parish.
We belong to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark, in the Bromley Deanery; and in ecumenical terms we are a proud member of Churches Together in Orpington.
But if we are to take seriously Saint John Paul II's description of a parish quoted above, it is not these bare, institutional facts that define us as a parish. Rather, what matters most is what we are like as a family, a fellowship, a welcoming home, a community.
We hope that you will get a good sense of that from this website, arranged as it is around the different aspects of our parish life; and that if you've not already done so, you will have the opportunity to come and experience our life and our welcome in person.
To get you started, on these 'About us' pages, you can learn more about:
Our Parish Vision
Our parish leadership and the idea of co-responsibility
The various ways you can get involved in our parish
The Sisters of Mercy
Our parish history
We belong to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark, in the Bromley Deanery; and in ecumenical terms we are a proud member of Churches Together in Orpington.
But if we are to take seriously Saint John Paul II's description of a parish quoted above, it is not these bare, institutional facts that define us as a parish. Rather, what matters most is what we are like as a family, a fellowship, a welcoming home, a community.
We hope that you will get a good sense of that from this website, arranged as it is around the different aspects of our parish life; and that if you've not already done so, you will have the opportunity to come and experience our life and our welcome in person.
To get you started, on these 'About us' pages, you can learn more about:
Our Parish Vision
Our parish leadership and the idea of co-responsibility
The various ways you can get involved in our parish
The Sisters of Mercy
Our parish history