As a Society Parish, St Thomas’ is under the episcopal care of the Bishop Of Richborough, one of the special bishops provided by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to give sacrament assurance and pastoral care to Parishes who have passed a resolution under the House of Bishops’ Declaration.

The Bishop of Richborough serves the eastern dioceses of Canterbury, Chelmsford, Ely, Guildford, St Edmundsbury & Ipswich, Leicester, Lincoln, Norwich, Peterborough, Portsmouth, Rochester, St Albans, Winchester and Gibraltar in Europe.

We are one of over 100 parishes that Bishop Norman cares for and we belong to his family of priests and laity gathering with him to celebrate at Richborough Family Days in St Albans and other cathedrals, and to blessed and consecrate the Holy Oils at his Chrism Mass.

We are blessed with Bishop Norman’s ministry and he visits us regularly to administer the sacrament of confirmation, to ordain as required and to conduct various pastoral visits strengthening us in our work of proclaiming God’s Kingdom.

During 2020 Bishop Norman will be paying a special visit to our Parish Schools as well as confirming in July and December. To find out more about the See of Richborough please click here.

Vocations to the Priesthood

Bishop Norman also works closely with Fr Mark on the Vocations Initiative. If you would like to know more about the priesthood and the journey that takes an enquirer to an ordained priest, please visit the website of the Additional Curates Society.