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
The Gospel today reveals how Jesus is the full expression of God the Father. The invisible God fully manifests himself in the humanity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to the fullest extent that this can be expressed in human nature. That is why he is the “Way” to the Father - to have seen him, to have heard him, is to have seen and heard the Father. And Christ embodies and reveals the “Truth” about existence - the truth that God made us for himself, so that his creatures might know him and love him forever. That is the truth about how and why we were made and that is why, as St Augustine said: “Our souls are restless until they find rest in God.” And Christ is our “Life.” All things were made through him and for him and he shares his life with us so that the life that is in him may be in us too. That is why he can properly proclaim himself, “the Way, the Truth and the Life.”
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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 |
|---|---|---|
| 06.05.2026 | Parish Coffee Morning | The next Parish Coffee Morning will be in the Narthex at 10:30 on May 6th 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! Please note that the earlier timing is a one off and things will return to normal in June. |
| 05.05.2026 | Midweek Mass | Blessed Robert Grissold, Balsall Common: Tuesdays 10:00am Mass. Mass followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with Benediction at 11am |
| 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. |
| 29.03.2026 | Easter Mass times 2026 | please click on the link to view our mass times over the Easter period |
| 22.03.2026 | Job Vacancies | The Diocese are advertising two jobs, One for a Lead Trustee for the Property sub-committee and one for a Lead Trustee for the Safeguarding sub-committee. For an informal discussion about the role, please see the Noticeboard for more information. |
| 22.03.2026 | One Pot Supper | An evening of good food and entertainment was enjoyed by one and all last Saturday. We raised £610 towards Parish funds, a wonderful result, so thanks to everyone for all their help and generosity. |
| 19.03.2026 | 40 Hours Adoration of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament | 40 Hours Adoration of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament will take place at St John the Evangelist, Banbury from Thursday 19th March at 6.30pm through to the 4pm Vigil Mass on Saturday 21st March. This is part of the deanery prayer for vocations |
| 15.03.2026 | March, the month of prayer for vocations | Our prayer before the Blessed Sacrament on the First Tuesday after Mass (at BRG) and every Thursday (at SF) during March will be dedicated to this intention |
06.05.2026
The next Parish Coffee Morning will be in the Narthex at 10:30 on May 6th 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! Please note that the earlier timing is a one off and things will return to normal in June.
|
05.05.2026
Blessed Robert Grissold, Balsall Common: Tuesdays 10:00am Mass. Mass followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with Benediction at 11am
|
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.
|
29.03.2026
please click on the link to view our mass times over the Easter period
|
22.03.2026
The Diocese are advertising two jobs, One for a Lead Trustee for the Property sub-committee and one for a Lead Trustee for the Safeguarding sub-committee. For an informal discussion about the role, please see the Noticeboard for more information.
|
22.03.2026
An evening of good food and entertainment was enjoyed by one and all last Saturday. We raised £610 towards Parish funds, a wonderful result, so thanks to everyone for all their help and generosity.
|
19.03.2026
40 Hours Adoration of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament will take place at St John the Evangelist, Banbury from Thursday 19th March at 6.30pm through to the 4pm Vigil Mass on Saturday 21st March. This is part of the deanery prayer for vocations
|
15.03.2026
Our prayer before the Blessed Sacrament on the First Tuesday after Mass (at BRG) and every Thursday (at SF) during March will be dedicated to this intention
|
Parish Calendar
