Parish Team

Deacon Crispin
Walkling-Lea

Parish Deacon

I grew up in a Catholic household with two older brothers and my early spiritual formation was provided by army chaplains and the brothers of the De La Salle order, whose boarding schools I attended between the age of 8 and 18.  I trained as a registered general nurse and later as a registered children’s nurse, always working in London hospitals.  I now work at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, leading on the design, equipping and opening of new buildings and refurbished clinical departments.

Sarah and I have been married since 1994 and we have two young people, Bram and Esther.  Conscious of a calling to some kind of ministry from a very young age, I eventually entered the formation programme for the permanent diaconate in 2013 and was ordained in July 2016 at Holy Cross Church by Bishop Peter Doyle.  My ambition for my ministry is that it will unlock Jesus’ teaching in the Gospels and make everyone aware of His limitless love and mercy for all persons.

Deacon Tony Quinlan

Parish Deacon

I grew up in an Irish Catholic and multi-cultural community in West London.  As I did so, I was involved with various lay ministries whilst discerning a spiritual calling. Eventually I joined the Met Police Civil Staff, before becoming a Police Officer in 1991.

It was when I joined the Police that I met my future wife, Maria. We now have four grown up children, Stephanie, Timothy, Luke, and Joseph.

In 2000 we moved to Bedford where we became part of the community at Holy Cross as parishioners. Both Maria and I continued being involved in parish life, once more in various lay ministries, including the SVP and the Hebron Soup Run at De Parys Ave. This we did together for 16 years.

I entered formation training for the Permanent Deaconate in 2013 and was ordained Permanent Deacon by Bishop Peter Doyle in 2016.

In 2017 I retired from the Met Police as a Sergeant. I am now Catholic Chaplain at Bedford South Wing hospital. I also prepare parents and arrange baptism dates for their infants within the North Bedford Catholic Community Area.

I very much enjoy preaching and bringing the Gospel into the modern contemporary world.  (Hopefully our parishioners equally enjoy listening to me!!!)

I hope soon to also become more actively involved in both the SVP’s of Holy Cross and St Philip and St James Parish community.

Peter Commons

Chair of Joint Parish Finance Committee

Originally from Bolton in Lancashire and still supporting the Wanderers.  I retired in 2016 after 40 years in banking (mostly based in London but also in Manchester and Houston, Texas).  My wife, Maggie and I came to Bedford in 1981 when I was transferred to work in London and have been actively involved parishioners at Holy Cross Church throughout our stay.

I am currently Chair of the Joint Finance Committee for Holy Cross and SS. Philip & James, as well as the Treasurer for both parishes and a Trustee of Northampton Diocese.

Sheila Allen

Parish Secretary for Holy Cross

I have lived in Bedford for most of my life and attended the Convent of the Holy Ghost School. I am married to Keith and after raising our five children, I returned to work and studies gaining a BSC (Hons) Computing & Information Technology at the University of Bedfordshire. I truly love my work here in the Parish Office and I’m very happy to be a part of the warm and welcoming North Bedford Catholic Community.

Mariateresa Quinlan

Parish Secretary for Ss Philip and James

My name is Mariateresa,  I  am also known as Maria. I am married to Deacon Tony Quinlan  and I am currently  parish secretary at  St Philip & James  Catholic Church.

I am retired from the Metropolitan police civil staff.

I am also  a member of the Grandparents Association in which I am the finance clerk of our Holy Cross Meetings.

We moved, as a family from London, twenty one years ago with our children who are now all grown up and now we have four grandchildren.

Kathy Goodwin

Welcoming and Website

Originally from Staffordshire, I came to Bedford in 1990 when I married Peter.  We both worked long hours in London or away from home, so for many years attending Mass at Holy Cross Church, I was unable to commit to more involvement in Parish life.  Fortunately that changed in 2005 when I took voluntary redundancy from banking and became a self-employed HR Consultant specialising in recruitment.  In 2007 I organised all the meals for the Sion Mission Team who visited both of our Parishes for 2 weeks.  From then on I became involved in many parish activities, groups and projects, which often involved me cooking and baking!

Two of the projects I have taken on have been the ‘Welcoming’ in our Parishes and also the joint Parish Newsletter and Website, helping to bring the Parishes of the Holy Cross and Ss Philip & James together as one community to form North Bedford Catholic Community.