About Us

• The Wednesday Word is a not-for-profit collaborative Charitable Trust based at St Austin’s Catholic Church, Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
  
  
• This 21st Century mission to families is under the patronage of St Joseph, Patron Saint of Families and Protector of the Church.
  

The Trust

• The Trust seeks to spread the Gospel nationally, initially through primary schools, into family homes.
  
  
• The Trust seeks to promote a 21st Century, weekly, Christ centred Family Time custom for families to come together around the Word of God and in the love of Christ.
  
  
• The Trust also seeks to encourage parishes to underpin the school mission with prayer. A separate resource will be made available to parishes free of charge to encourage a new form of spiritual communion between school and parish.

The Trustees

• The Trustees are all committed Catholics and consist of a Catholic headteacher, three priests and two Catholic parents, one of whom is a Catholic school foundation governor with children who attend Catholic primary and high schools.
  
  
• The Trustees endeavour to further the mission of the Catholic Church. They seek to serve our Bishops by working in partnership with headteachers, priests and school governors to strengthen the Home, School and Parish partnership through the distribution of The Wednesday Word leaflet.

The Resource

• The primary school version of The Wednesday Word is written and produced by Fr Timothy Swinglehurst and Dannie Firth. Fr Swinglehurst is St Austin's Parish Priest and has a licence in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. Dannie Firth is a Foundation Governor & Parent of 3 children who attend Catholic primary and high schools. He is a practising Catholic and he and his family have experienced the many benefits of The Wednesday Word Family Time prayer custom over the past 7 years. Dom Henry Wansbrough, a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission and a world renowned biblical scholar, writes a weekly Gospel commentary for the parish version of The Wednesday Word.
  
  
• All primary school Wednesday Word material carries an imprimatur and so is declared free from any moral or doctrinal error. Endorsements have been received from the Vatican and also from various departments of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.
  
  
• Consultants to the Trustees include: RE coordinators, representatives from Catholic religious orders, Catholic priests, headteachers, school parents, school governors, parishioners and various experts from around the country, together with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and Elizabeth Davies, Project Officer for the Bishops Conference of England and Wales’ Committee for Marriage and Family Life.