Kevin Jones

Further National Lottery Funding secured

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Our beloved landmark church has been awarded £362,900 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to complete the restoration of the majestic dome and main sanctuary.

This architecturally ambitious basilica, built in 1933, the church dominates Wirral’s skyline, and was nicknamed during the Second World War. Its distinctive green dome has been lovingly known as ‘The Dome of Home’ since mid-20th century, when sailors would see the church from the River Mersey. ‘The Dome of Home’ is one of the last iconic Art Deco buildings to survive redevelopment in New Brighton, whilst still retaining its original function, and continues to open its doors for everyone to enjoy.

Alongside the structural restoration work that will take place, the funding will also ensure that there will be exciting activities to enable specific members of our community to discover this historic gem for themselves. Working with partners such as Williamson Art Gallery, Wirral Borough Council, multiple care homes, community centres, and local schools and libraries, activities including a dementia friendly heritage package, a memory book and heritage talks will be delivered. Other activities include a Reformation Workshop for students, continued professional development for heritage workers, a conference for other churches interested in applying for funding and Heritage Open Day scaffolding tours and lectures. There will be something for all ages and abilities, and all happening in this wonderful building.

Previous projects have been phased since 2013 and supported through the National Lottery’s Grants for Places of Worship programme, restoring two-thirds of the roofs. However, concrete bursting from the Dome ring is putting previous investment at serious risk, and water ingress threatens the historic fabric. During the last project, a large lump of concrete fell onto a repaired chapel roof, confirming urgency. Fortunately, contractors were able to ‘patch’ repair onsite. This new project will cover the Sanctuary barrel roof with a membrane, repoint brickwork, restore steel windows and cast-iron rainwater goods treating the structural concrete problems, making the whole church safe and watertight.

Canon Amaury Montjean from the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest and Rector of the church is delighted. He said: “This is our biggest project yet, which has taken 18 months of careful planning by a committed team of people! Thank you everyone, from the architect and structural engineer, to the wonderful volunteers, supported by prayers to ‘Our Lady of Good Success’ from the congregation. We have a special ‘Thank You cuppa’ for all National Lottery players planned to accompany a recital of church heritage at The Williamson Art Gallery near the end of the project, so watch this space!”


Canon Montjean added, “Match funding is going well, but not yet complete. AllChurches Trust awarded £12.5k in March 2019 for this project and we have received £15k in private donations. We still have another £17k to raise and launch a further fundraising campaign today.”

Project Manager, Anne Archer, was overjoyed with the news. She said, “Our volunteers have worked extremely hard planning this project, proving that we have the capacity to succeed. It is these people who have won this award for our church. The grant will ensure the dome becomes a living, lasting legacy for the New Brighton community.”

David Renwick, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: The commitment of the Dome of Home’s volunteers is to be applauded, as is their drive to share the fascinating heritage of the landmark church with the wider community through a carefully considered activity programme. Encouraging communities to discover their history is positive not only for safeguarding the heritage itself but also for increasing wellbeing and strengthening community pride. We are delighted to support this worthwhile project, with thanks to National Lottery players for making it possible.”

The Dome of Home is recruiting more people to get involved in the activities, with the aid of Community Action Wirral. This contributes to helping Wirral become a Dementia Friendly Borough as part of their Action Plan pledge to help older people live well. Anyone interested in helping and joining the fun, please email ”

Diplay at Williamson Art Gallery
Our Memory Book Project

Pastoral letter of His Lordship Mark, Bishop of Shrewsbury on the Re-dedication of England as the Dowry of Mary, 1st March 2020

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My dear brothers and sisters,

I think of you all each morning at the Altar and each evening as we pray the Angelus before the statute of Our Lady in the Cathedral. I think of your families and your work; of the loneliness of old age and the generous hopes of youth; of those seeking their vocation, especially the men discerning their vocation at the Cathedral and our seminarians preparing for the priesthood and the young couples preparing for marriage; I think of all our priests and deacons and consecrated women and men, and of the whole mission of our Diocese. We know that in the offering of every Mass our lives, our prayer, our work and our sufferings are “united with those of Christ and his total offering, and so acquire a new value”i. In the simple prayer of the Angelus we also seek to unite ourselves to the “yes” Mary gave to God’s word and thereby to Christ Himself. In the Angelus we say with Our Lady, “Let it be to me according to your word”.ii This is a perfect prayer to accompany the Year of the Word.

At the beginning of Lent, the Book of Genesis tells how human history began with our first parents saying “no” to God and his loving purpose. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that: “Man, tempted by the devil let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God’s command”iii. This is original sin and “all subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness”.iv Yet amid the disaster of this primeval fall, we hear the first announcement of the Gospel telling of the Saviour to come and of a New Eve, the Mother of Christ, who would truly be the Mother of all who live. Together with Our Lady we now repeat her fiat, her “yes” to all God asks of us and to the grace God wishes to pour into our hearts.

In a time of amnesia – forgetfulness – of the Christian past, we recall how England began with this desire to say “yes” to God’s grace, in order that a once pagan people might share Christ’s victory in the wilderness by learning to live “by every word which comes from the mouth of God” and worshipping and serving the Lord God alone.v Our national identity would be forged by the Christian faith we now share. England’s Monarchs would entrust this land to the Mother of God so that, like Mary, we might respond to God’s word in faith. They recognised England’s high destiny to be a place where the joy of the Annunciation will never fade. vi

This year, the Bishops invite us to renew that solemn act of entrustment to the Blessed Virgin Mary amidst the de-Christianisation of our society, re-echoing the call with which Lent begins, “Come back to me with all your heart”.vii On the Fifth Sunday of Lent, we will make this act of entrustment together at the end of Mass. In Shrewsbury Diocese, I want us to also make this entrustment throughout Lent using the simple and profound words of the Angelus. Where Monarchs once acted on behalf of their people, today may this same act of dedication be renewed in the hearts of each one of us. Let us entrust ourselves, our families, our diocese and our whole nation to the Mother of God that we may say with her, a decisive “yes” to God’s grace and God’s plan for our lives.

The Angelus seems especially appropriate for this purpose, for it is the prayer of the Angel’s announcement to Our Lady. Following the Second Vatican Council, Saint Paul VI commended the Angelus prayer especially for our times as it vividly recalls with the words of Scripture the Incarnation of the Son of God and leads us to pray that we may be led “by his Passion and Cross to the glory of his Resurrection”. viii Pope Paul asked us to use this prayer “whenever and wherever possible” amidst our working day, however busy we might be.

This Sunday, prayer cards will be distributed across the Shrewsbury Diocese so we can have the words of this beautiful prayer to hand. I wish to invite you to pray the Angelus with me each day and especially around midday on Wednesday 25th March, when we celebrate the great feast of the Annunciation. The two or three minutes we give to this prayer will be like a ‘breath of fresh air’ in the middle of the day, allowing us to raise our minds and hearts to God and to re-direct all to His glory.

United with you in this prayer and entrusting us all to the most pure heart of Mary,

+ Mark
Bishop of Shrewsbury

Join us in praying to Our Lady of Good Success!

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Ss. Peter & Paul and St. Philomena submitted the application for a grant to National Lottery Heritage in November and we are awaiting a decision in March.

Last Thursday was our last chance to present our proposed project to our National Lottery Investment Manager and one of the committee who will be deciding whether to fund us. They were particularly impressed with the volunteer contribution during development and the promised contribution of volunteers for delivery, if we get the grant.

The investment manager explained that although some of our activities have a relatively low budget compared to some other projects from councils and museums, that is because of the massive volunteer contribution. Thank you to all who have helped so far, whether through your time, your energy, your sacrifices and your prayers.

The board of trustees will meet at the beginning of March to decide whether we deserve funding. Competition is tough. A novena for the success of our HLF application for our restoration project will be organised at the Shrine from 25th February to 4th March.

To implore the help of Our Lady, we will be saying a Novena. The Novena will be prayed at the end of the Morning Mass on weekdays, and at the end of the 10.30am Mass on Sunday.

A small booklet about the devotion and Novena to Our Lady of Good Success is for sale at the Piety Shop for £5.