The post-war years saw a dramatic rise in population. By 1961 the population of Woodford alone was 32,000 with more building estates promised and planned as well as an equally startling rise in population in the areas around Woodford. Some of the terrible pressure was taken off the Woodford community at St. Thomas of Canterbury by the formation of the Hainault parish in 1952 and again in December 1968, when the Bishop commissioned the new parish of St. Anne Line in South Woodford. Nevertheless, the pastoral burden on the Friars was awesome at a time when, as in the secular priesthood and other religious bodies, there was a downward trend in vocations. A quite exasperated note in the parish archives of 1968 indicated that the Franciscan community at St. Thomas of Canterbury was finding it difficult to uphold all its commitments.
The Friars of Woodford were not helped by the shifting population of the area they served. In their influential book, Family and Kinship of East London, published in 1952, the sociologists Willmot and Young demonstrated that only 12% of the residents at the time actually came from Woodford whilst, in the same survey, only 47% of the Woodford population admitted to attending Sunday church - and that was once a month. In the face of these difficulties the Franciscan community achieved great success. A note in the register for 1950 declared 75% of the parish were practising whilst, in 1958, the Bishop confirmed 200 people. At Easter 1956 the number attending mass was 1,270 and in 1977, 1,423. Seven years later in a letter to parishioners, Father Guardian expressed himself very pleased that he had to continually increase his order for communion wafers from the Poor Clares.
Nevertheless, the Franciscans had to find a solution to bringing the mass and the sacraments to the outlying edges of the parish. In 1951, at the request of the Bishop, the Franciscan community was asked to find a place in Buckhurst Hill to celebrate mass. After a great deal of debate, they were allowed to say mass at the Welfare Centre Buckhurst Hill, for the first time on the feast of the Epiphany 1952. The Parish Council agreed to pay ten shillings rental per week. Such an arrangement continued until 1970 when, due to the generosity and ecumenical spirit of the Anglican authorities, the Friars were permitted to celebrate Sunday mass at St. Stephen's Chapel, Albert Way, Buckhurst Hill. In the same year, on Low Sunday, the first mass was offered at the Broadmead Community Centre for people on the new estate. An entry in the parish register for 1955 says that a number of Sunday masses in the parish had risen to 10: five in the church, two at Chigwell, one at Buckhurst Hill, one at the Poor Clares' convent and one at Claybury Hospital.
At the same time the Franciscans were involved in many parish activities: training at Walsingham House, support in giving retreats to different parts of the country as well as ecumenical liaison with local churches and, after Vatican Council II, in the senate of Priests and local Deaneries. (The latter provided some slight amusement to the Fathers when, in 1973, it was decided that they would be part of the Waltham Forest rather than Redbridge or South Essex Deanery). It is impossible to assess the tremendous work of the Friars during the post-war years for little mention is made of the individual counselling, house visits, as well as the administration and business of the local Franciscan community.
In July 1947 a Parochial Entertainments Committee had been set up as a forum for lay involvement. This became the Parish Council in 1951 and, as early as 1953, the Father Guardian was issuing an annual report on the parish. In 1963 and 1964 the Franciscan fathers organised an end of year party at the Roebuck Hotel for all those who had helped in the parish though, by 1964, people were beginning to question the value of such a festive occasion.
There were requests, as early as the 1950's, for a new place for the parish to meet. In 1973 the Catholic Parents Electors' Association, which had been formed in the parish, put forward a plan for the entire site to be razed and a new church and parish centre to be built. Such radical proposals were overtaken by other events but the Parish Council continued to develop. In 1976 the constitution was formulated and on the 5th November 1976 the first a.g.m. of the Parish Council took place where members to it were elected. In November 1980 more radical measures were adopted to stimulate parochial life by the adoption of the renewal programme sponsored by the Movement For a Better World. A ten year plan would be drawn up and, to prepare for it, a parish retreat was given. The actual programme beginning in the Autumn of 1981 with the parish renewal workshop and the division of the parish into zones, each with a leader and a number if messengers. Such a programme still continues to develop and thrive.
The Franciscan community had always appreciated the value of the written word in keeping in touch with members of the parish and elsewhere. The tradition of Father Edward Fisher of Padfield in publishing hand-bills as well as close liaison with the local press continued but received a fresh impetus in the post-war years. A newsletter was published in May 1948 under the auspices of the Franciscans: it was called Friary Newsletter and appeared on the first Sunday of each month, price 3d. It's circulation was about 450 copies each of 10 pages being full of articles and parish news. After a while its appearance became rather spasmodic but, in September 1967, it was re-issued under the title
This Week which published parish notices as well as the "people's part" of the mass. In the 1980's there has been the publication of the Together newsletter once a month and more recently a parish magazine called In Touch.
With the passing of time a great deal of parish work was done by organisations; well established ones such as the Third Order, Guild of the Blessed Sacrament (last revived in 1961) and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul which provides counselling and financial help, house visits and summer camps for the children on the Essex coast; the Knights of St. Columba who organise a constituency committee with other churches as a pressure group on local m.p.'s in all matters where human lives were involved. The Catholic Women's League continued its work at parish bazaars and fetes which had now become annual events, as well as running activities ranging from organising the cleaning rota of the church to the care of the altar linen. The Catholic Women's League also organised visits to the old and infirm, catechical classes for children attending non-Catholic schools, as well as Lenten lunches organised at different churches to raise money for charity. Other organisations such as Justice and Peace, c.h.a.s, c.a.f.o.d. as well as groups organising pilgrimages and Walsingham have all been generously supported by the parish.
Youth clubs may have been a phenomenon of post-war years but there is strong evidence that youth organisations have always flourished at St. Thomas of Canterbury. As early as 1949, the Friars were laying out tennis courts on what was called the Montclair site (later St. Paul's School - now Trinity Lower Site) "so young men and women of the parish could meet in a Catholic atmosphere". A youth club was formally begun in 1956, meeting in the Memorial Hall in High Road Woodford before being moved to Ivy Lodge and taking the nickname of Ivy Lodgers. Like so many parish groups they used that old house until a series of fires in 1971/72 led to its being condemned and razed to the ground. One of the great characteristics of these early youth clubs was their love of amateur dramatics such as the play they staged in September 1957, entitled "The White Sheep of the Family".
After the demolition of the Ivy Lodge in 1972, the club used a variety of places: St. Antony's Hall; Avon House; the United Reform Church Club in Buckhurst Hill and, in 1976 to the despair of some of the Friars, the Friary itself. The youth club continued in the 1980's being organised on a deanery as well as a diocesan basis with programmes at Walsingham House and participating in conferences at Mersea Island and elsewhere. Concurrent with these developments, was the expansion of the Scouting movement. The Scout Troop being joined in the 1950's by a Cub Pack, Girl Guide Company as well as Brownies, Ranger Groups, and later by Beaver Scouts.