Blessed Robert Grissold Catholic Church
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Welcome to the website of Blessed Robert Grissold Catholic Church in Balsall Common. Here you can find details of the parish, our latest newsletter, services and sacraments offered by the Church and, in our parish archive, the events we have held. As a parish we value your privacy. Please follow the link here to learn more about the privacy policy that covers all catholic churches in the Archdiocese of Birmingham,
Father Frank writes
Everything begins, one might say, from the heart of Christ who, at the Last Supper, on the eve of his passion, thanked and praised God and by so doing, with the power of his love, transformed the meaning of death which he was on his way to encounter. The fact that the Sacrament of the Altar acquired the name "Eucharist" - "thanksgiving" - expresses this: that changing the substance of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is the fruit of the gift that Christ made of himself, the gift of a Love stronger than death, divine Love which raised him from the dead. This is why the Eucharist is the food of eternal life, the Bread of Life. (Pope Benedict XVI)
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Safeguarding
The Parish follows the safeguarding standards advised by The Archdiocese of Birmingham. You can view these standards by following the link here.
A link to the Archdiocese safeguarding website can be found here.
Safespaces is a free and independent support service, providing a confidential, personal and safe space for anyone who has been abused by someone in the Church or as a result of their relationship with the Church of England, the Catholic Church in England and Wales or the Church in Wales. If you have been affected, however long ago, Safe Spaces can provide you with support. You do not have to have told the police or the church authorities, and you do not have to still be involved with the church. Your information will not be shared without your consent unless you or someone else is in immediate danger. To contact Safespaces, please follow the link to their website here.
The Isaiah Journey The Isaiah Journey is a working group of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales which has grown out of the need for a pastoral-spiritual response to the suffering of victims and survivors of abuse in the Church. It provides A Guide for Survivors of Abuse that can be found here.
The Safeguarding Rep for our Parish is Monica Green and she can be contacted via email at sg.brg.balsallcommon@rcaob.org.uk.
The Parish follows the safeguarding standards advised by The Archdiocese of Birmingham. You can view these standards by following the link here.
A link to the Archdiocese safeguarding website can be found here.
Safespaces is a free and independent support service, providing a confidential, personal and safe space for anyone who has been abused by someone in the Church or as a result of their relationship with the Church of England, the Catholic Church in England and Wales or the Church in Wales. If you have been affected, however long ago, Safe Spaces can provide you with support. You do not have to have told the police or the church authorities, and you do not have to still be involved with the church. Your information will not be shared without your consent unless you or someone else is in immediate danger. To contact Safespaces, please follow the link to their website here.
The Isaiah Journey The Isaiah Journey is a working group of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales which has grown out of the need for a pastoral-spiritual response to the suffering of victims and survivors of abuse in the Church. It provides A Guide for Survivors of Abuse that can be found here.
The Safeguarding Rep for our Parish is Monica Green and she can be contacted via email at sg.brg.balsallcommon@rcaob.org.uk.
Parish Events
Looking for the rest of the Parish Event List? We have archived the list from our old site but you can still view them here.
Date
| Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 09.06.2026 | Midweek Mass | At Blessed Robert Grissold, Balsall Common: Tuesday 10:00am for St. Columba. |
| 07.06.2026 | Reception into full communion with the Catholic Church | If anyone is interested in preparing to be received into full communion with the Catholic Church, please contact Fr Frank as soon as possible as a new course of formation is about to begin. Also please keep in your prayers Catherine, Daniel and John who are hoping to be received into full Communion with the Church |
| 06.06.2026 | Churches together Coffee Morning | The next Churches together Coffee Morning is Saturday 6th June from 10:30am -12pm in the Jubilee Centre. The Churches together Coffee mornings are held on the first Saturday of each month, hosted by local churches in turn - Blessed Robert Grissold’s next turn hosting will be in September. |
| 02.06.2026 | Change to Tuesday Mass Time | This week the Mass on Tuesday will begin at 6.30pm. The Mass will be followed by the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with Benediction at 7.30pm all welcome |
| 31.05.2026 | Corpus Christi | Next Sunday the Church celebrates Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ |
| 14.05.2026 | Prayer Group | Our Prayer Group will not be meeting this Thursday 14th May. We are sorry for any inconvenience. We will resume as usual on Thursday 21st May at 4pm. Everyone is most welcome |
| 06.05.2026 | Parish Coffee Morning | The May Parish Coffee Morning was held on May 6th rather than May 13th - Please note that the earlier timing is a one off and things will return to normal in June. |
| 02.05.2026 | Baptism | Please pray for Louis Alexander Shopland who was Baptised here this weekend, Saturday 2nd May. And for his parents, godparents, Family and Friends |
| 01.05.2026 | Stay and Play | St George and St Tereas Catholic Primary School warmly invites babies and toddlers to our Stay and Play every Friday 2:00 to 3:15. Contact the school office for further details: 01564774906 or office@stgandt.solihull.sch.uk |
| 27.04.2026 | Potluck Supper Photos | On the 14th march, the parish held a potluck support with entertainment. Click on the link to see the photos |
| 15.04.2026 | Churches together Balsall & Berkswell | Here at Blessed Robert Grissold on Wednesday April 15th at 7:00pm, there will be an Eco talk aimed at looking to save energy in our Churches. Please let John or Louise Perry know if you are willing to attend. |
| 12.04.2026 | Easter Offering | Thank you for the collection in the Easter Masses which is the customary Easter offering to your priest. I am grateful for the generosity of spirit which is shown in so many ways in the life of the Parish. |
| 11.04.2026 | Baptism | Please pray for Elizabeth and Tom whose baby, Rosanna, will be Baptised on Saturday the 11th April |
| 08.04.2026 | Parish Coffee Morning | The next Parish Coffee Morning will be held in the Narthex at 10:30 on April 8th with coffee and tea, scones, cakes and good conversation. If you haven’t been before, give it a try – you will be made very welcome. |
| 05.04.2026 | Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion | Anyone interested in becoming an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion please contact Fr Frank. |
| 29.03.2026 | Easter Offering | The collection at Mass at Easter is the customary Easter Offering for your parish priest. If you are away this Easter, you can make this offering to your priest at any time by leaving a cheque payable to Rev Frank Smith or cash in an envelope marked ‘Easter Offering.’ Thank you for your support. |
| 29.03.2026 | Save the Children Spring Fayre | Julia Greensall would like to thank those parishioners who attended the Spring Fayre - held on 14th March at St Francis of Assisi in Kenilworth, which raised £1,490 for the Charity 'Save the Children’. |
| 29.03.2026 | Lent CAFOD collection | Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Lent CAFOD collection from Chris Lynn. I am delighted to say that we raised over £400! More than half of us also filled out the gift Aid form. So the final total should be about £460. An excellent amount! |
| 29.03.2026 | Planned Giving Update | Following on from the events we held in our parish, you have helped us to increase our planned giving and also increased the number of people volunteering to support our parish. After our financial planned giving event, 5 new standing orders have been raised and 25 existing standing orders (approx. 50% of our total existing standing orders as of the end of October 2025) have been increased. Overall, standing order planned giving has increased by over 30%. With the addition of gift aid, this represents a significant increase in planned giving for our parish and is a fantastic result. In March, we invited you to support the ongoing running of our parish. This resulted in 20 additional volunteers for the parish groups and rotas. The rota and group coordinators will be in touch with everyone who volunteered to discuss next steps and include you in the rotas. You will also be contacted by Monica Green, our parish safeguarding representative, to ensure that you are able to comply with the Diocesan Safer Recruitment guidelines. The team would like to thank you for your generosity in the way in which you have responded to these events, it is greatly appreciated. |
| 29.03.2026 | Safeguarding audit | The Parish has to complete a Safeguarding audit. To comply with Diocesan Safeguarding policy, all volunteers in the Parish need to complete Level 1 safeguarding training. This is reading a leaflet about safeguarding (posted on the notice board and there are a few copies at the back of Church) and confirming that they have done this to Monica Green or Iain Butlin-Moran so it can be documented on the Parish Audit Spreadsheet. Everybody that has a role that needs a DBS check will have to complete level 2 or 3 training which is an online module. Monica will be in touch with all the relevant people with the details of this. |
09.06.2026
At Blessed Robert Grissold, Balsall Common: Tuesday 10:00am for St. Columba.
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07.06.2026
If anyone is interested in preparing to be received into full communion with the Catholic Church, please contact Fr Frank as soon as possible as a new course of formation is about to begin. Also please keep in your prayers Catherine, Daniel and John who are hoping to be received into full Communion with the Church
|
06.06.2026
The next Churches together Coffee Morning is Saturday 6th June from 10:30am -12pm in the Jubilee Centre. The Churches together Coffee mornings are held on the first Saturday of each month, hosted by local churches in turn - Blessed Robert Grissold’s next turn hosting will be in September.
|
02.06.2026
This week the Mass on Tuesday will begin at 6.30pm. The Mass will be followed by the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with Benediction at 7.30pm all welcome
|
31.05.2026
Next Sunday the Church celebrates Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
|
14.05.2026
Our Prayer Group will not be meeting this Thursday 14th May. We are sorry for any inconvenience. We will resume as usual on Thursday 21st May at 4pm. Everyone is most welcome
|
06.05.2026
The May Parish Coffee Morning was held on May 6th rather than May 13th - Please note that the earlier timing is a one off and things will return to normal in June.
|
02.05.2026
Please pray for Louis Alexander Shopland who was Baptised here this weekend, Saturday 2nd May. And for his parents, godparents, Family and Friends
|
01.05.2026
St George and St Tereas Catholic Primary School warmly invites babies and toddlers to our Stay and Play every Friday 2:00 to 3:15. Contact the school office for further details: 01564774906 or office@stgandt.solihull.sch.uk
|
27.04.2026
On the 14th march, the parish held a potluck support with entertainment. Click on the link to see the photos
|
15.04.2026
Here at Blessed Robert Grissold on Wednesday April 15th at 7:00pm, there will be an Eco talk aimed at looking to save energy in our Churches. Please let John or Louise Perry know if you are willing to attend.
|
12.04.2026
Thank you for the collection in the Easter Masses which is the customary Easter offering to your priest. I am grateful for the generosity of spirit which is shown in so many ways in the life of the Parish.
|
11.04.2026
Please pray for Elizabeth and Tom whose baby, Rosanna, will be Baptised on Saturday the 11th April
|
08.04.2026
The next Parish Coffee Morning will be held in the Narthex at 10:30 on April 8th with coffee and tea, scones, cakes and good conversation. If you haven’t been before, give it a try – you will be made very welcome.
|
05.04.2026
Anyone interested in becoming an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion please contact Fr Frank.
|
29.03.2026
The collection at Mass at Easter is the customary Easter Offering for your parish priest. If you are away this Easter, you can make this offering to your priest at any time by leaving a cheque payable to Rev Frank Smith or cash in an envelope marked ‘Easter Offering.’ Thank you for your support.
|
29.03.2026
Julia Greensall would like to thank those parishioners who attended the Spring Fayre - held on 14th March at St Francis of Assisi in Kenilworth, which raised £1,490 for the Charity 'Save the Children’.
|
29.03.2026
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Lent CAFOD collection from Chris Lynn. I am delighted to say that we raised over £400! More than half of us also filled out the gift Aid form. So the final total should be about £460. An excellent amount!
|
29.03.2026
Following on from the events we held in our parish, you have helped us to increase our planned giving and also increased the number of people volunteering to support our parish. After our financial planned giving event, 5 new standing orders have been raised and 25 existing standing orders (approx. 50% of our total existing standing orders as of the end of October 2025) have been increased. Overall, standing order planned giving has increased by over 30%. With the addition of gift aid, this represents a significant increase in planned giving for our parish and is a fantastic result. In March, we invited you to support the ongoing running of our parish. This resulted in 20 additional volunteers for the parish groups and rotas. The rota and group coordinators will be in touch with everyone who volunteered to discuss next steps and include you in the rotas. You will also be contacted by Monica Green, our parish safeguarding representative, to ensure that you are able to comply with the Diocesan Safer Recruitment guidelines. The team would like to thank you for your generosity in the way in which you have responded to these events, it is greatly appreciated.
|
29.03.2026
The Parish has to complete a Safeguarding audit. To comply with Diocesan Safeguarding policy, all volunteers in the Parish need to complete Level 1 safeguarding training. This is reading a leaflet about safeguarding (posted on the notice board and there are a few copies at the back of Church) and confirming that they have done this to Monica Green or Iain Butlin-Moran so it can be documented on the Parish Audit Spreadsheet. Everybody that has a role that needs a DBS check will have to complete level 2 or 3 training which is an online module. Monica will be in touch with all the relevant people with the details of this.
|
Parish Calendar
