CTGS Parish
Creating a shared identity for a newly united parish
Context
Across the UK, Catholic parishes are being reshaped as dioceses respond to fewer priests and changing pastoral needs.
In Workington, three churches — St Mary’s, St Gregory’s and Our Lady Star of the Sea & St Michael’s — were brought together as one new parish: Christ the Good Shepherd.
The challenge was to create a shared visual identity and website that could unite these communities while honouring the character of each.
The idea
The starting point was not design, but scripture.
Fr Philip, the parish priest, described the vision for the new parish:
“Our Parish is inspired by Christ the Good Shepherd, who gathers the flock and goes out in search of the lost, brings back the stray, bandages the injured and makes the sick strong.”
This image of gathering and care became the creative compass.
A second thread came from Workington itself, a coastal town with a long fishing heritage.
The resulting symbol quietly weaves these ideas together:
• a fishing net, representing gathering and the town’s history
• the wool of a sheep, suggesting the flock and belonging
• the shepherd’s crook, anchoring the image of Christ the Good Shepherd
From this symbol a wider visual language emerged.
The shapes within the mark became the basis for illustration across the site, forming hills with grazing sheep in the header and waves with fish in the footer — reflecting both land and sea.
The outcome
The finished website provides a clear and welcoming centre for parish life, bringing together Mass times, livestreams, newsletters and parish updates.
The visual language gives the parish a gentle but distinctive identity rooted in scripture, place and community.
Three churches now share a single digital home.
What this reveals
This parish is more than its buildings.
It is a community being gathered.
Three churches.
One parish.
One shared story.
