- 272 Dyke Road
- Brighton
- East Sussex
- BN1 5AE
01273 882987
Email Us
About Us
The Church of the Good Shepherd has a long-established, moderate Catholic tradition. We are a friendly and welcoming church that meets the worship and spiritual needs of people from a wide range of traditions. We welcome visitors and encourage newcomers to become involved in whatever they feel comfortable with.
Please see information from our recent 2018 Annual Parish Meeting.
Also, here is a link to the member list of the Parochial Church Council and sub-committees - 2019-20 PCC & Sub Member List
Our Mission
To bring more people to experience God’s love by making our church the much needed focus in the local community.
Father Felix Mascarenhas - Vicar
My full name is Father Felix Pedro Antonio Mascarenhas.
I was born in 1955 and brought up in Goa, India. Back then, Goa was a Portuguese colony. I am an Italian citizen and have been in the UK since 2002. I spent my first 28 years in Goa, where I was ordained a Roman Catholic priest and was a member of a missionary order.
In 1984, I attended the Pontifical Urban University in Rome, with a scholarship for four years. Rome was my first experience of Europe. The climate, wine, cheese and pasta had a profound effect on me, so much so, that after four months, none of my clothes fitted me. Fortunately, my Rector found a benefactor to replace my wardrobe.
Whilst at university, I travelled to New York every summer to help out in parishes providing Services in English and Italian.
In 1988, I obtained a Doctorate in Canon Law and returned to India, only to return to Italy immediately and take over the two parishes of Aprilia, about 20 miles south of Rome. I remained there for 13 years and it was there, that I was re-born.
As a parish priest, I felt more and more uncomfortable in myself, with certain theological, moral and ethical expressions of Roman Catholicism. I underwent an extended period of introspection, re-imagining what sort of priest I wanted to be and where God wanted me to be.
It was clear that I had been searching for years. The U.S. did not attract me, neither did Germany, where I had travelled frequently on holiday. Perhaps this was due to the language. However, images of the English countryside and the descriptions of glorious summer days from long ago in India still lingered in my mind. The Anglican theology with its open-minded and welcoming characteristics appealed me a great deal and, after serious reflection, I decided to cross the river.
In 2002, a month after the inauguration of a new church in Aprilia, I moved to the UK. After a few months at Cuddesdon, near Oxford I moved to St. Peter's Westhampnett, near Chichester. I married Susan through a priest friend from Kolkata that I had met at university in Rome. Ours was an arranged marriage of course, as most Indians do!
Since May 2006, we have been here in Brighton and Hove, serving the wonderful community at the Good Shepherd. I love the church here as it has all the best elements a parish could offer - a theology of God's mercy, open and welcoming to all and a congregation always willing to grow in God's grace and work in his mission for the neighbourhood.
Father Mathew Philip - Assistant Vicar
I was born in Singapore where my father served with the RAF during the 1950’s and 60’s. My parents are from Kerala in South India and had migrated to Singapore where my maternal grandparents had moved to in the 1930’s. We come from a Syrian Orthodox reformed church based in Kerala, called the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church. I grew up in Singapore going to the local Anglican church on the RAF base most weeks and to the Mar Thoma Church once a month. This was the pattern we followed when we came to the UK in 1968 as there was a small Mar Thoma congregation in London. We would drive to London from our home in Cambridge once a month to attend the service. For the rest of the time, my siblings and I attended our local Anglican church. My wife, Susan also comes from the same church tradition in Kerala. Her parents worked in Brunei where she was born.
After graduating from Leeds University with degrees in Physics and Materials Engineering, I finished with a PhD in Polymer Physics. Susan and I met and were married in 1981 while I was completing my PhD. We moved south with work, first to Northampton and then to Brighton in 1988.
We have two daughters who both grew up in Brighton. They are both married with children and live in London now.
I taught at Brighton University and then later at the London Metropolitan Polymer Centre. While in Brighton, I developed an interest in recycling plastics which led to several industrial research projects. After six years as Associate Dean in my faculty in London, I took early retirement in December 2017. Now I teach part-time with the Open University and at a French Engineering institution. I keep my interest in physics and materials going through membership of professional institutes and my teaching.
My faith and worship have been central to my life. During the 1980’s and early 90’s it was with the Mar Thoma Church. I was involved in organising conferences and retreats for the church youth. As our children were growing up though, during the 1990’s, visits to the Mar Thoma Church became less frequent as we, as a family became increasingly involved at the Ascension Church, Westdene. Through the love of members of the congregation at the Ascension and at All Saints, Patcham we were drawn into a deeper fellowship and knowledge of the love of God. It was then that I discerned that God was leading me to make a deeper commitment to serving Him. This led me first to being trained as Reader in 2001. During this time, I was also guided to reflect further and was recommended by the parish for training to the priesthood. Following the completion of further study, I was ordained Deacon in 2005 and priested in 2006.
Since then, I served in the parish of All Saints, Patcham mainly at the Ascension, Westdene as SSM while working full-time in London. This was quite challenging but also very rewarding as I was working with colleagues and students from different faiths and no faith, learning from them as much as I was able to support them.
In March 2020, I was licensed as Associate Vicar at the Church of the Good Shepherd, just three weeks before the Covid lockdown. As the church closed, we were able to continue ministering online as we mastered Zoom. We continued to support each other during the time, moving all church meetings online and developed our skills in the use of Powerpoint and Zoom. We returned to services in church in 2021 while retaining Powerpoint presentations using Zoom for those who are unable to attend church.
Michael Miller - Reader
I have been a member of the Good Shepherd since the age of 11 (a few years ago!) and first came with my parents when they lived nearby in Westdene and were attracted to the church as they’d been married by the then Vicar, Cecil Chisholm. I have been a server, PCC member, Deanery Synod Representative, Churchwarden and was one of the founding members of the ‘Church of the Good Shepherd Playgroup’!
I am an accountant by profession but have for many years felt a sense of calling to ministry. This came to fruition in 2002 when the Vicar, Jonathan Greener announced one day over breakfast in the Vicarage that he was going on holiday and had therefore put me down to preach! I then spent some time exploring my vocation and was in due course selected for Reader training and licenced in Chichester Cathedral in September 2005.
Since then, as well as assisting with ministry in all sorts of ways at the Good Shepherd, I have completed funeral ministry training, taught for the Diocese on Following Jesus, Living Faith and other adult education courses, am a regular Chaplain at the Cathedral and act as a Selector for new Readers.
I have served under seven Vicars, all of whom have made different positive contributions to the life of the parish, and I look forward to working alongside Fr Felix and Deacon Helen over the year ahead. Our particular focus at the moment is to think about how we can further develop our ‘Time for God’ ministry for families and young people.
Diocese
For information on the Diocese of Chichester, spiritual growth, diocesan strategy, parish life, governing bodies, pastoral care and counselling, please click on the following link:
Link: Diocese of Chichester