Mass in Rolleston - A Step Forward for Selwyn
by Fr Brian Fennessy
February saw the Selwyn Parish commence Sunday Masses in Rolleston. In the last ten years and particularly as a result of the Canterbury earthquakes, Rolleston has mushroomed as a town.
Over the past years, the Selwyn parish has been searching for an appropriate site for Rolleston Catholics to meet for a weekly Sunday Mass. While Rolleston School was an ideal site, we had to wait for Hope Presbyterian Church to move to its new church building, before we could move in. This has now happened.
At the time of writing, the first few Masses have taken place and have attracted between 230 and 300 Rolleston residents. This group includes existing Selwyn parishioners, but many are newcomers. Some may have attended adjoining parishes or simply responded to the presence of a Mass in their own town. We hope this group will become a nucleus in the establishment of a faith community within the town, as we plan to build a new church in Rolleston.
Parish Priest Fr Brian Fennessy commented that “There used to be Mass in the past, but that was in the early days of Rolleston, when attendance was smaller. Rolleston is now as big as Ashburton.”
The Selwyn Parish covers the existing churches in Lincoln, Leeston and Darfield and now Rolleston is taking its place.
