On Sunday 11th August the 14th Multicultural Mass of the African Day took place at St Elizabeth’s in Coventry.
This is an annual event sponsored by St Elizabeth’s parish community. This event was started in 2006 by Fr Moses Pitya David, AJ Parish Priest, to foster a community cohesion and give support to several members of the parish who were by then asylum seekers. Most of these people were not able to go home or anywhere outside UK because of their asylum cases. Their children were not able to give exciting news about their holiday when they returned to schools after summer holiday.
The event was initially started as an African Day, because majority of them were African’s migrants who were so devout in their faith. The African Day brought in a new dimension in the parish of St Elizabeth’s. lt didn’t take long before it became a parish event.
Parishioners from various ethnic communities especially the indignant,
the Punjabi and Filipino joint in and supported the event whole heartedly.
It grew from strength to strength with beautiful singing provided by the choir known as 3CGs (Coventry Chorus Group), and with delicious cultural foods and BBQ provided by various communities, in the parish hall and gardens. As a result the event is no longer called “African Day,” but a “Multicultural Day” because of it’s natural involvement of so many diverse communities not only from the parish of St Elizabeth’s but people from over England and more particularly from Coventry and especially St Mary’s and Benedict’s parish who are our close partners in the choir.
This year celebration is special because our parish community is raising funds to build a new community centre, a safer place where our children are cared for and protected. A centre where families will be able to host their celebrations without fear of it falling apart. A centre to build more community cohesion. Over £450.000 is needed to be raised. But we are very optimistic that with the help from the Archdiocese of Birmingham we shall raise that much needed funds to build our new community centre.