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Thanks to the generosity of a private donor, an
additional staff member was employed in the Project Office from July 2007
- May 2008. One of the tasks undertaken by Veronica Murphy
during this
time was the piloting of an Everybody's Welcome Road Show. This is her
report, produced in May 2008.
Background
The Everybody’s Welcome Road
Show Pilot had its origins within a brief written by the Marriage and
Family Life Project Officer in June 2007:
“In January 2006 the
Everybody’s Welcome Working Group identified the availability of local
introductory workshops as one of the key criteria against which the
project would be evaluated. In the Spring of 2007 a review of project
progress revealed that at least one local training event had taken place
in each of 9 dioceses:
Cardiff, Hallam, Hexham and Newcastle,
Leeds, Menevia, Plymouth,
Portsmouth,
Salford
and Southwark. Evidence, albeit mostly anecdotal, suggested that these
events were highly successful in engaging parishes in the work of
Everybody’s Welcome, raising project profile and providing guidance,
encouragement, inspiration and mutual support to those involved in the
project at parish or deanery
level.”
In order to build on these diocesan experiences, a
Training & Development Officer was appointed to the Project Office on
an eleven month contract. The remit of the post included the creation and
piloting of a series of formats for a range of workshop sessions to
introduce the Everybody’s Welcome objectives and materials at deanery or
parish level. These could be delivered by local facilitators or by a
national staff person. The pilot was to test the feasibility of offering
national workshops, the challenges of adapting these to local needs and
the longer term viability of providing such a national service to
dioceses.
The brief suggested the following process:
-
Liaise
with diocesan staff with experience of providing local Everybody’s
Welcome events in order to establish the format, budget, content and
outcomes and to consider any newly developed materials for inclusion
in a national package.
-
In
the light of these findings and recent developments in the
Everybody’s Welcome project to devise a format or series of formats
with which to structure a local deanery/ diocesan/ organisation
Everybody’s Welcome event / roadshow.
-
The
format to at least include an introduction to the project, how and why
the Bishops identified it as a priority; experience of one or more of
the general resources, one or more of the specific resources,
effective liturgical and prayer practices and ancillary materials for
inclusion in a participants pack.
-
Test
the format by delivering the event within three to four deanery or
pastoral areas, in consultation with local leaders and by carrying out
pre and post event evaluation.
-
Conclude
by writing up the findings, publishing the formats and making
recommendations for future development work.
The project was in three stages.
-
Research and construction of initial format,
content, resources, evaluation methodology and liaison with diocesan
coordinators to book events: July to November 2007
-
Delivery of events and evaluation of outcomes:
February – April 2008
-
Publication of finished formats and
recommendations: May 2008
An
initial budget of £2,000 was later reduced to £1,000 to cover all
materials and travel for the workshops, but not project staff salaries.
The final sum spent was £802.49.
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Research
Between January 2006 and June 2007 a number of
dioceses engaged, in different ways, with the first phase of Celebrating
Family. As already noted, nine dioceses offered specific events to
introduce and promote the development of welcoming, friendly and
family-sensitive parishes. There was enormous diversity across these
initiatives:
-
a
one-day workshop;
-
the
provision of materials for parishes to run their own series of evening
or day time sessions;
-
a
number of two hour workshops offered across the whole diocese by adult
formation advisers and marriage and family life co-ordinators;
-
diocesan
days with keynote speakers in the morning;
-
a
variety of afternoon and/or evening workshops.
The importance of becoming welcoming communities was
not a new concept: many parish communities already recognised its
essential link to future growth and development following the renewed
emphasis on the Church’s mission of evangelisation at the beginning of
the twenty-first
century. But Listening 2004 brought a new awareness of the urgency of such
development work as time and again, especially at diocesan Family
Listening Days, people commented on their desire for friendly,
family-sensitive, welcoming parish communities in which they could feel
they belonged. It also brought increased awareness of the complexity and
diversity of family life at the beginning of the twenty-first century and
the need for understanding and support from the Church.
During the course of this first phase of Celebrating
Family: Blessed, Broken, Living Love a number of resources, both formative
and practical, were gathered together through the Project Office and
published through the web-site. All of this material: the programmes for
diocesan events and the growing collection of resources available through
the Project Office needed to be reviewed before designing formats for an
Everybody’s Welcome Roadshow. Additionally, the experience of those who
had designed and led workshops was an important source of information:
special thanks are offered to those colleagues who so generously shared
both their experience and resources.
Not surprisingly, what began to emerge was a
consensus around those activities, particular resources, and sometimes
specific parts of resources, which generated good adult formation
opportunities for Everybody’s Welcome. The brief distinguished between
‘general resources’ and ‘specific resources’. General resources
included collections of ideas and training resources that parishes could
work on at their own pace. These include Everybody’s Welcome and The
Ministry of Welcome, Monthly Top Tips for Parishes and some prayers and
liturgies. Specific resources would include the What Is Life Like Leaflets
developed as a direct response to Listening
2004 and resources from other Christian
Churches
such as Spiritual Care for Older People. Additionally, a Welcome Banner, designed for use across
one diocese and taken up by a number of its parishes, appeared to have
captured the imagination of participants and seemed worthy of wider
promotion.
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Construction of Initial Format
Jane Regan in her book on adult formation suggests
three essential and interlinked dynamics of effective adult formation:
information, formation and transformation. The pilot workshops therefore
should provide opportunities for engaging across the three, recognising
that the third is the most difficult to evaluate and often can only be
tested after a period of time. The review of existing initiatives revealed
three key aspects from all the processes, materials and resources as
potentially the most promising elements for inclusion in a Roadshow:
-
engaging
in telling and listening to stories of welcome and reflecting on
welcome in scripture (formation)
-
opportunities
to appreciate the need for specific resources such as the What is Life
Like leaflets and to become familiar with them (information)
-
time
for considering the best ways of developing the work within individual
communities (transformation).
In October, following a meeting of adult advisers in
Leeds
, the first diocese interested in taking part in the pilot was identified
and so an outline proposal for the Roadshow was produced and three
different workshop formats suggested. Soon afterwards, through a Review
process that the Project Office staff were conducting, a second and third
diocese expressed interest. The three diocesan
contacts were each sent a copy of the proposal and further discussion
followed resulting in the choice of formats and specific times and venues.
An initial schedule in one diocese allowed for workshops delivered by both
the Marriage and Family Life Training & Development Officer and the Diocesan Adviser for
Adult Formation across the full range of formats, but this had to be
considerably reduced due to the diocesan adviser’s other commitments.
Additionally a Deanery Council contacted the Project Office looking for an
evening’s workshop on Everybody’s Welcome lasting just two hours.
Consequently, the Pilot has been trialled in three dioceses and a shorter
and specifically adapted workshop prepared for Deanery Council in an
additional diocese.
The final range of formats all follow a basic structure and content.
-
Following
a welcome by the host parish and a time for introductions, hopes and
expectations would be checked and then a time of prayer would create
the context in which people could begin to engage with the issues. The
content of the opening prayer and liturgy was carefully chosen to
reflect the complexity and diversity of the issues and to link with
the wisdom of the early church.
-
This
would be followed by a short PowerPoint input on aims, objectives and
process.
-
Next
an invitation to think of a time in life when participants had felt
especially welcomed and in a few moments of silence to remember the
context, the people involved and the feelings generated.
-
Then
in small groups, formed using the different languages on their name
badges, in turn to ‘tell their stories of welcome’. They would
also be urged to listen especially well to one another and to value
whatever the other members of their group offered. Each group would be
given a set of ‘post-it’ notes and asked to write a word or phrase
about welcome arising from their experience of story-telling. These
were to be displayed and a chance for reflection provided.
-
At
this point the background to the initiative would be presented using
PowerPoint and giving details of Listening 2004, Celebrating Family:
Blessed, Broken, Living Love and the specific objectives for
Everybody’s Welcome.
-
After
a time to ‘buzz’ and ask for clarification the Power Point
presentation would continue with a reflection on welcome in scripture
leading to engagement with the story of Martha and Mary’s welcome of
Jesus in the gospel according to Luke. This would be in two stages –
a first hearing of the story in the whole group and invitation to
share images, words/phrases and questions before moving into small
groups with a copy of the text and one question for reflection,
linking this story with their own stories of welcome.
-
The
next phase of the format concerned the introduction of specific
resources: two approaches to auditing a parish. This was followed by
another opportunity for working in small groups: this time with case
studies of people who provide challenging opportunities to take
seriously the intention to welcome everyone and be both friendly and
family-sensitive.
-
The
What is Life Like leaflets were to be introduced at this point, with
further time in small groups to enable engagement with these.
-
Finally,
using PowerPoint once more, an overview of the national resources
available through the web-site would be presented.
-
Each
parish represented would be given a folder containing copies of the
main resources and invited to look at them in parish groups and decide
what the next step for their particular parish might be.
-
A
closing prayer that included an examination of conscience around
welcome would end the workshop(s).
A specially produced brochure was distributed either at the end of the
workshop or the beginning of the second workshop. The programmes for the
individual workshops are included with the report for each venue. Each
workshop included a focus table: Lenten cloths, bible, candle, tea towels,
cup & saucer, glass and biscuits. A display board with photographs
from Listening 2004, the What Is Life Like leaflets and
Mothers’ Union
leaflets was also available and a specially designed 8 feet high Welcome
banner.
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Evaluation methodology
The pilot has been evaluated according to a number of
methods.
-
First
of all a pre-event evaluation
form was designed and sent to the event co-ordinators with an
invitation to copy them to the parish priests involved in specific
workshops. Of 11 forms distributed, five were returned.
-
In
addition, participants at two of the workshops were invited to
complete an individual
pre-evaluation card upon arrival.
-
At
the end of the workshop experience participants were asked to complete
post-event evaluation forms
which developed as the pilot progressed.
All these forms asked for people willing to be
contacted in a few weeks’ time to provide their name and telephone
number. The Project Office Administrator then carried out a series of post-event telephone interviews between two and four week after the
workshops. The questions referred
to pre-event expectations where appropriate.
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Workshop Format 1: Whole day
10.30 – 3.30 p.m.
Diocese A.
Timetable for this format
Scripture
conversation
Participants
22 people attended in total including the Diocesan Co-ordinator. The host
parish was represented by 10 parishioners and 2 priests. There were 3 and
4 parishioners respectively from two neighbouring parishes. There was a
mix of age, gender and ethnicity although the majority were over 40.
Expectations
A number of involved parishioners who may have been expected to attend
such an event chose not to and allegedly,’ felt insulted’ because
‘we are a welcoming parish – this is not for us surely?’. It was
necessary for the Diocesan Co-ordinator to begin by assuring everyone that
the reason they had been chosen for the pilot was precisely because they
are so welcoming and hospitable. The pre-evaluation forms were only
returned by the host parish and indicated an expected attendance of 30+.
The Roadshow had not been systematically publicised and it may be there is
a need for ‘official’ publicity material – poster etc. Hopes and
expectations checked at the beginning of the event indicated a clear lack
of knowledge of what people were coming to.
Evaluation
20 forms were completed. 15 indicated that all the objectives of the
roadshow had been met.
3 felt three were achieved and 2 would have liked a middle option between
‘Yes’ and ‘No’ to indicate uncertainty as to whether they had been
achieved. As a result of this comment, repeated on two other forms, a new
post-event evaluation form was designed for use with the other workshops.
Comments on the back of forms were extremely complimentary of the event
and indicated a deepening of understanding as to the complexity of the
issues involved in this phase of Celebrating Family.
Telephone Evaluations
Four participants were contacted three weeks after the event and were
unanimous in their consideration that the workshop had been worthwhile.
Transcript
of Telephone Evaluation Responses
Concluding Reflection
The format for this full day workshop generally worked well but the parish
had advertised a
3.00 p.m.
finish and only communicated this to me at lunchtime! Therefore the work
in parish groups with resources was necessarily shorter than planned and
this was a pity. It also no doubt linked to the comments received in the
follow up telephone evaluations concerning the ‘relaxed feeling’ of
the event. The liturgy set the tone for the day and established a
reflective mood: people settled during this time of prayer and took
particular notice during the litany, adapted from one prepared by Bill
Huebsch. As a result of one specific response to this, expressing concern
at feeling excluded if all is going well in one’s life, the litany was
further adapted.
The story telling produced tremendous energy and
people really listened very well to one another: this was commented on in
the post-exercise responses. The input on the Listening 2004 findings that
prompted Everybody’s Welcome as the first phase of the bishops’
response was received with genuine interest and for almost everyone in the
room was new information. The early, unplanned finish resulted in the
resource awareness session being covered quite superficially and this, I
fear, will show itself in the long-term effectiveness of this workshop in
this area. There is certainly enough material for a whole day, but perhaps
the time required to do justice to it in one day is beyond the
capabilities of the majority of parish participants who have busy lives
with many priorities and demands on their time and attention. However the
same, only slightly amended format, was used across a whole day elsewhere
with a much stronger engagement during the afternoon which allowed
sufficient time for considering the resources in the context of next
steps.
This workshop format would be especially useful
for parish council members and members of parish leadership/pastoral
teams, also perhaps for groups of clergy on a deanery or pastoral area
basis.
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Workshop Format 1: Whole day
10.30 – 3.30 p.m.
Diocese B
Participants
Despite publicity by the Chair of the Diocesan Marriage & Family Life
Commission and invitations to all parishes in the deanery only one parish
other than the host parish was represented and the total number of
participants was 8: two of whom were male and all aged 40+. This obviously
affected the dynamic of the day and hurried adjustments were made to the
programme to take account of such a small group. However those present
engaged wholeheartedly and with increasing enthusiasm.
Format
The same format as that proposed for the
Hull
workshop was used. However, the fewer numbers meant that the various
activities throughout the day took less time and only two case studies
were reflected upon. However the opportunity to look at the resource pack
being left with the parishes and to decide next steps took longer than at
any other workshop with participants reflecting deeply on the application
of the workshop in other places within the diocese.
Evaluation
Only one pre-event evaluation form was returned in advance of the meeting
from the Commission chair who hoped for a good response to the day, some
learning about the importance of welcome and the opportunity to learn
about the process of the workshop in order to be able to repeat it around
the diocese. Participants were given a simple pre-evaluation card to
complete anonymously as they arrived. Of the 7 posted in the box provided,
1 was blank and the other 6 all indicated no prior awareness or indeed any
familiarity with Celebrating Family: Blessed, Broken, Living Love.
Completed evaluation forms at
the end of the day indicated quite a strong engagement with the
involvement of single people within parishes, reflecting a quite lengthy
conversation following the case studies reflection, two people referring
to it as the one thing they would take away with them:
“To be more aware of
single people. To pray for them and find some means of bringing
them together.”
“As a result of attending the workshop I think we should remember single
people”.
Other comments included:
“Excellent. Exceeded my
expectations. Very interesting and thought provoking.”
“Gave me a deeper insight into what ‘Welcome’ really means.”
Despite numerous efforts those participants who had
indicated that they were willing to be telephoned a few weeks after the
workshop were unavailable. Eventually an e-mail evaluation was gathered
from the Commission chair:
“My overall impressions
of the course were favourable. Although the numbers were very
disappointing, I felt that those who attended found the content
instructive and helpful. I considered the most valuable aspect to be, that
it got the attendees to realise there is much more to 'welcoming' than
saying hello at the church door. Discussing the various scenarios in
smaller groups brought this home, and certainly gave our parishioners food
for thought. Realistically, because of the small number of attendees,
particularly from other invited parishes, I foresee minimal progress
within the deanery. However I feel that my own parish will implement more
welcoming initiatives, particularly the Family Group Movement which you
know we are piloting. My recommendation to other groups would be that the
course concentrates the minds of parishioners to consider just how
welcoming their parish is. Most of us think we are doing an OK job, until
we are forced to look at things more deeply. I found the format of the day
satisfactory. The following outcome was achieved:-greater understanding of
welcome in all its forms. Had there been a greater attendance the
introduction of 'welcome' could have been achieved. Finally I would need
to receive more training in order to deliver the course myself with
confidence around the diocese. I think we are
probably going to have to take the course to the parishes rather than
expect them to respond to an invitation to a central venue.”
View
the Case Studies used
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Workshop Format 2: Two Half-days 10.00 am -
12.30am
Timetable
for this format
Scripture
conversation
Participants
24 participants attended plus the Parish Priest and 2 assistant
priests, who were each present for different parts of the sessions. A
general invitation had been extended through the newsletters but also
specific individuals had been invited because of their involvement in
particular ministries within the parish: the Baptism group, the
maintenance group, the visiting team and the ‘greeters’ as well as
members of the parish’s Development Working Group, who were leading the
bringing together of three parishes into one community. Considerable
preparation had gone into this event: the MFL Training and Development
Officer had met with clergy and parishioners to introduce the pilot three
months before the first session and it was integrated into parish
planning.
The leader of the Development Working Group agreed to
co-facilitate and so two further meetings took place with her. Despite
this there were difficulties for people who may have wished to attend
because the first session happened during Lent when a Reconciliation
Service was also taking place in one of the churches. There was a good
representation of age and gender with 1 wheelchair user present
for
both sessions.
Expectations
These were gathered at the start of the session and recorded as:
-
Looking to be affirmed in what we’re already
doing
-
New ideas
-
Hope we’re doing the right thing for ‘new
comers’
-
Looking for ideas to ‘bring people out’
-
Young people – 2/3 yrs old – our future
-
Ways of involving new people in the groups
-
Everyone welcome – great diversity
Evaluation
As part of her commitment to the process the leader of the Development
Working Group produced an evaluative report of the whole experience. The
formal post-event evaluations from participants showed a high level of
engagement with the objectives for the workshops and recorded the highest
level of understanding of the process that led to this phase of the
initiative.
Responses to the month’s break between workshops
recorded advantages and disadvantages. High on the list of advantages was
the ability to reflect on the discussions and the material covered: “An
advantage of a month’s break between the two workshops was that it gave
time to reflect and act on our failings, as well as increase awareness of
others.” An appreciation of time to begin the parish audit also rated
highly: “An advantage of a month’s break between the two workshops was
that it gave opportunity for the audit to take place …It gave time to
observe within Church some of the different needs.”
The busyness of people’s lives was reflected in an appreciation of the
break too: “An advantage of a month’s break between the two workshops
was that Saturday is a busy day, so glad of the interval between …The
break suited me as it would have been difficult to commit 2 Saturday’s
together.”
Disadvantages included a ‘loss of momentum’, a
chance of forgetting what had gone on and as one participant recorded:
“A disadvantage of a month’s break between the two workshops was that
the
process was in a state of suspended animation and incomplete.”
Transcript of
Telephone Evaluation Responses
Report by the
Development Working Group Leader
The Interactive Audit Format
Responses from
the Interactive Audit
This format could be offered across a week-end at
parish/cluster level or as two half day sessions, a week or more apart.
This option would be more appropriate for daytime participation.
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Workshop Format 3: Two Twilight Sessions
Timetable for
this Format
Participants
Session 1 – 14 participants: 4 from the host parish plus the diocesan
adviser for adult formation.
Session 2 – 6 participants: 5 from the host parish; 3 who had not
attended session one.
The workshops had originally been scheduled to run
across consecutive evenings and had been publicised in both parish
newsletters. Unfortunately the MFL Training and Development Officer had to
return home urgently on the morning following Session 1 and Session 2 had
to be re-scheduled for a Saturday afternoon one month later. This
undoubtedly affected numbers participating because the parish priest of
the visiting parish was unable to attend because of a Vigil
Mass and only three of those who had attended Session 1 were present for
Session 2. Whilst there was a good mix of male and female the age group
was 50+ with the majority in the upper range.
Format
The first session had followed the same format as Workshop Format 2, the
only exception being that there was no shared facilitation. However the
powerpoint was adjusted to present the two versions of the audit and the
second session adjusted to take account of the month’s delay. Whilst
small in number this second group engaged most enthusiastically with the
case studies and the What is Life Like leaflets, asking for extra
time in both activities.
Evaluation
Participants at the first session completed a pre-event evaluation card on
arrival: of 10 ‘posted’ they all indicated no previous involvement in
or awareness of Celebrating Family: Blessed, Broken, Living Love.
Evaluation forms completed at the end of the second session showed 100%
achievement across all the objectives apart from the understanding of the
process that had led to Celebrating Family (82%). Possibly this was due to
different levels of participation across the two occasions. The
unscheduled break of a month, unlike the scheduled break in Workshop
Format 2, resulted in more disadvantages being recorded:
“A
disadvantage of a month’s break between the two workshops was that you
forgot what happened in a month.”
“A disadvantage of a month’s break between the two workshops was that
we lost several of the original people, but gained others – sadly could
have hoped for more.”
The activity designed to encourage groups to consider
the next steps was positively received and a volunteer came forward to
organise and co-ordinate a coffee morning after Sunday morning Mass,
initially once a month. Other comments included:
“As
a result of the workshop I think that we, as a community, can be more
active in welcoming and involving more people and including people who may
also wish to become active themselves in the community.”
None of the participants at this second session gave
their name and telephone number for post-event evaluations.
This format is most suited to smaller parish or cluster
groups that need to offer an evening option although this option could
also be offered across either weekday or weekend mornings/afternoons.
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Workshop Format 4: A Short Session (Two Hours)
The Project Office was approached to
provide a one-off workshop for a Deanery
Pastoral Council that would form part of a series of three sessions
on different aspects of Welcome. This was to be a general session
particularly focussed on the development of friendly, family-sensitive
parishes and the resources available through Celebrating Family: Blessed,
Broken, Living Love. Obviously because of the time allowance of just two
hours, and no follow-up scheduled, this would be different from the other
workshops. The following format was drawn up:
As people arrive they are welcomed and given name badges with
WELCOME in
different languages and invited to write on their first names.
7.30: Welcome and introductions. In twos – what are
you hoping for – what are you expecting tonight? Chart up
7.40: Opening prayer
7.50 : Think of a time in your life when you have
felt especially welcome.
Find 3 others who have a different ‘welcome’ language on their name
badge, introduce yourselves and then tell one another your ‘welcome’
stories. Whilst each is telling their story please try to listen
particularly closely and really appreciate them.
8.20: How was that – what words/feelings were
associated with ‘welcome’?
8.30: Background to Celebrating Family &
scripture
8.50: Buzz -what struck you?
8.55 : Remainder of input – audits, resources, What
is Life Like? leaflets
9.10: Chance to look at WILL leaflets and interactive
audit
9.20: Plenary closing prayer
On the morning of the event however the Training and
Development Officer had to withdraw because of illness and the programme,
the Welcome booklet devised for the pilot, and the Powerpoint presentation
was e-mailed
to the Chairman of the Council. He didn’t receive it until the next day
but managed to arrange for another speaker familiar with the Everybody’s
Welcome resource to lead the evening.
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Summary & Recommendations
The Everybody’s Welcome Roadshow Pilot has been a
worthwhile project despite low numbers in terms of workshop attendance
(71). It was unfortunate that the original plans to co-facilitate the
workshops across six venues in one diocese had to be scaled down. It has
demonstrated that a well designed workshop experience can significantly
affect participants, increase awareness of resources, and in some cases,
lead to the transformation of existing practise. It has also confirmed a
belief that a consideration of the friendliness and family-sensitive
nature of our parish communities is a most necessary stage in
understanding the complex interaction of home, family and parish that lies
at the heart of the faith development process.
The pilot has demonstrated that there remain many
people in parishes, deaneries, pastoral areas and dioceses who have not
yet engaged with the Bishops’ Conference initiative Celebrating Family:
Blessed, Broken, Living Love. It is therefore
recommended that the Project Office publicise the basic workshop format,
making available the materials and resources required through the existing
Everybody’s Welcome web-site and continue to promote the value of such
work through the Marriage and Family Life e-bulletin. There are many
people working in dioceses with the necessary facilitation skills to
deliver the workshops but awareness of their usefulness is a
pre-requisite.
In the ongoing development of Celebrating Family:
Blessed, Broken, Living Love this first phase of Everybody’s Welcome
needs to continue to be promoted as foundational for the work of Home is a
Holy Place
and Passing on the Faith. The challenge will be to encourage diocesan
workers to continue to offer workshops and support around this first phase
whilst also attending to the second and third phases as they are
developed.
The resources used as part of the workshops, are more
than sufficient to enable a worthwhile and transforming engagement with
the issues. The two audits, one objective and factual, the other
interactive and revealing deeper issues of shifting family patterns and
complex webs of relationships, would seem to be an essential step in
changing the welcome culture of a parish. Also of value is a reflection on
the Case Studies adapted from the Everybody’s Welcome resource produced
by Churches Together for Families, that leads to the introduction of the
What is Life Like
leaflets which deserve to made much more widely available and have been
extremely well received during this pilot. They were, without exception,
good news for every parish.
By far the most effective format proved to be the
Workshop Format 2 but much of its success was dependent on the commitment
of a person from within the community able to work alongside the Training
and Development Officer. Therefore it is recommended that the Project
Office make
provision for offering training in the process required for the workshops
to diocesan MFL co-ordinators and other interested local leaders.
The
Workshop Format 2
experience also demonstrated the usefulness of the roadshow workshops for
pastoral development providing a focus for change management in
communities called to work together in new ways. They present an agenda
that all sectors of the community can engage in from a common starting
point and for the good of all.
In almost all the pilot venues, effective publicity
was lacking, therefore it is recommended that the Project Office recommend
materials for publicising the Workshops together with Guidelines for
essential preparation in advance of the event.
Finally, there was almost no awareness or familiarity
with the project web-site. It is recommended that new ways of encouraging
parishes and dioceses to connect and interact with this essential resource
be considered.
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