Student Priests’ New Magazine

26 February 2009

Matt Anscombe, a Clifton Diocese student for the priesthood has launched a new magazine about life in seminary.  ‘The Evangelist’ is out now and available in all parishes in our diocese and throughout the South of England.  ‘The Evangelist’ includes an article written by Bishop Declan. 

Matt studies at St John’s Seminary in Wonersh near Guildford and edited the magazine on behalf of the 30 seminarians at the college.  He said: “Bringing ‘The Evangelist’ to life and making available to all parishes in the southern England has been an exciting project.  We’ve tried to give the magazine a missionary outlook and it’s part of the seminary’s commitment to engaging more actively with the world.

“The focus of our free 36-page magazine is on mission, vocation and seminary life. As men training for the priesthood we believe we have lots to say on the areas of evangelisation and vocation. 

“We also want to give people a window on our life here at the seminary so that parishioners in places where it’s possible we’ll be priests in the future can get to know us a little more.  We also want to make the training we do better known to everyone, including those who may be considering their vocation.

“12,000 copies of ‘The Evangelist’ have been distributed and are now available in every parish in the south of England.  The Vocations Directors from the dioceses have been a great help with this.  We believe ‘The Evangelist’ will appeal to all the faithful with lots of brief, quality, punchy articles.

“We have also produced a special eight-page discernment guide, which will be inserted into each copy.  Our hope is that these guides might encourage single men of all ages to consider the possibility of priesthood.”

‘The Evangelist’ was launched following Mass for the seminary’s patronal feast.  Rector of St John’s Seminary, Monsignor Canon Jeremy Garrett together with Father. Stephen Langridge, Vocations Director for the Southwark Archdiocese, and Father Robert King, Vocations Director for the Clifton Diocese.

Father Robert King said: “Priests proclaim the Gospel and enable others to do the same.  Evangelism calls for good communication and Matt Anscombe, a student for the priesthood in the Clifton Diocese, reflects this in his renaming of St John’s Seminary magazine.

“‘The Evangelist’ communicates the daily life and mission of a contemporary seminary helping men on their journey to the priesthood.

“This edition contains a challenging article on proclaiming the Gospel today by Bishop Declan Lang.  Bishop Declan, who chose Paul VI’s encyclical on proclaiming the Gospel, ‘Evangelii Nuntiandi’, as his episcopal motto, writes about how the Church has a message of hope for the world.

“Editor-in-Chief Matt Anscombe encourages readers in parishes and communities to reflect on what it means to proclaim the Gospel as the Church of today.  ‘The Evangelist’ is available from all parishes in our diocese and throughout the south of England.  I hope parishioners enjoy reading it and come to know our students for the priesthood a little better.”

You can download ‘The Evangelist’ in the multimedia panel on the right.

More about the priesthood on our 'Vocations' section.