Manchester
The Xaverian presence in Manchester cannot be understood without taking about Preston! With the closure of The Junior Seminary in Coatbridge, we Xaverians were looking for new ways to engage young adults in discerning a missionary vocation. The reasoning behind Preston was simple: Scotland is covered by, at that time Glasgow and Coatbridge and the south of England by London. In an era of restructuring and rationalisation the focus became mission animation and vocation promotion aimed at adult vocations. The location of Preston allows access to the North of England and the Midlands. No area of Scotland, England or Wales cannot be touched by the Xaverians!
We had a small community in Ribbleton Avenue in Preston that was very active in the local church, in chaplaincy at Newman College and in the Diocesan Justice and Peace network. In 2017 a new opportunity arose: the Carmelite Friars were leaving Preston and their Tabor retreat centre. We could replicate what we were doing in Coatbridge in Preston! And so our short presence on Sharoe Green Lane began in 2017.
With a global pandemic in 2020 both Centres (Coatbridge and Preston) were closed. It was during these lock-downs that we reflected on our missionary presences and what was going to happen once “things got back to normal”! We thought that our resources could be redirected and we began to look at an inserted and small community, away from a large structure. We spoke with Bishop John Arnold in the Diocese of Salford and we agreed to move into the Diocese.
We closed the Preston chapter of the Xaverian presence on July 5th, 2024 and began a new presence in Manchester. We are exploring how to be missionary in a local church. Not just repeating what has been done, but taking time to discern and not just jump into the first thing that comes along!
