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| Good News of Welcoming, Family-Sensitive, Friendly Parishes |
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Family-Sensitive (A) | Back to top St John's Cathedral Parents Group (Portsmouth) meets on the first Wednesday of the month (in term time), from 10-11.30am in the Cathedral centre. All parents, grandparents and carers of children of all ages are welcome for a drink and a chat at no charge. Babies and pre-school children are very welcome, with plenty of toys to keep them amused! In addition to the monthly meetings, the group raises funds for various appeals, organises occasional information meetings and a family coach trip in the summer holidays. Approximately half of the people on these trips come from parishes in the deanery; the other half are people from the local community who do not have any links to the Catholic Church. The monthly meetings are essentially a parent (grandparent or carer) and toddler group, but through fundraising and the other events and trips the group are trying to be more than that. Events planned for the future include Music Fusion and The Parent Child Game (one day course on behaviour management), both of which are available through Portsmouth City Council services. In partnership with schools, youth groups and CathSoc (university chaplaincy) the group is planning to support the Samaritans Purse appeal for Christmas boxes for children in 2006. Group organiser Emma Devine is well aware that it is the practical things that make a difference to families. The installation of a baby change facility and the availability of a highchair in the Discovery Centre are being considered as part of a redecoration programme, which would make the centre (and parish) more accessible and therefore welcoming to parents and their families. Family-Sensitive (B) | Back to top Extracted from Parish
Notices at Our Lady and the English Martyrs, MUSTARD SEEDS is a group
for families which offers imaginative play, story telling, singing and a
craft or messy play activity. Each session has a different Bible theme. We
also pray together and share a snack of fresh fruit and rice cakes. All
parents and accompanying children are very welcome. The group meets from
10.00 -11.30 on Monday mornings in term in the Parish Room at St
Laurence’s, From September there will also be a new group designed to meet the continuing need of families for fellowship and to provide the opportunity for children to play and pray together with their friends. ‘Sam’s Friends’ will meet on Tuesday afternoons from 15.30 until 17.00 in the Parish Room at St Laurence’s. (The Samuel narrative in the Bible provides children with a role model and guide. Samuel talks and listens to God directly, unafraid, trustingly, without any adult standing in the way). For further details, contact Karen, as above, or Mary Jane (xxxxxxxx). "The first time I met the parish welcomer and said I was coming as a student, she said, today you are a visitor: next week you are part of the parish. It made me feel at home."
This evening Bernadette and I took 2 of our parishioners who are lonely women, one a widow, the other a spinster, to a Requiem for John Paul II at our Cathedral. They were so happy talking away on the 20 mile plus each way journey after a sad but lovely packed Mass. They were radiant when we dropped them off to their homes. When you look at parishes throughout the country, I feel sure that loneliness is one of the easiest things they can tackle with the minimum of resources, and doesn't have to overload more even an overloaded parish priest. This would bring some joy into many people's lives! (Plymouth) A few years back a relative of mine lived in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire . She was elderly and would get a taxi to church. On leaving after Mass Father Theo, a Benedictine monk, would stand at the church door to speak with all his parishioners - when he saw my relative he would turn to the nearest man and say: "Oh John, you go in Monica's direction, you could take her home." The (usually) 'young' man would say "My name is Peter, Father, and I live in the opposite direction - but of course I'll take Monica home". (Middlesbrough)
We were on holiday and went to Sunday Mass at Fr Jon's parish, Bridport. We were greeted enthusiastically, given appropriate books/ sheets and shown to seats where we were greeted by people sitting near us. The Priest announced that there was no children's Liturgy due to usual people on holiday but invited the children to find their cushions and join him on the floor in front of the Altar. At this the children produced brightly coloured cushions from under the chairs and clustered around Fr. Jon on the floor. There was a baptism that Sunday and during the homily Fr Jon proceeded to enthral adults and children alike with an explanation of the ritual of Baptism, but starting with the children's ideas. 'What do your parents keep in the bathroom?' he asked. After some very interesting contributions we got to aromatherapy oils and he linked this to the anointing of the baby. He had the attention of the whole congregation. During Mass he welcomed visitors and after Mass he spoke to our family, showing real interest. Fr. Jon showed us a memory garden he and the parishioners had been building. In church there were leaflets offering an opportunity to plant a heather in memory of a loved one. We were visiting our uncle because he was recently bereaved. He was very touched when we organised a plant in his wife's memory and came into the grounds to see the garden. (Plymouth)
I came back to England from overseas, ill and bed bound. I had not been to church for several years. I am now well enough to sit in a wheelchair but even so hardly go to my own parish because it is not wheelchair friendly. I have visited the Catholic Church in Newport, Isle of Wight several times, and I love it there. The priest makes a point of involving everyone in the Mass and community life. Some of the assistants are visibly 'disabled'. One young man with Downs takes up the collection. The priest is friendly and welcoming and he gets the children to participate too, so that the whole Mass is like a real family gathering. People's joy at being there is very evident. Visiting that church is a highlight of my holidays. (Portsmouth) The priest makes a point of inviting non-Catholics, particularly if he knows there are some present, to come forward for a blessing during Communion and does his best to make them feel welcome and part of the community. When I have gone forward, he lays his hand on my head and prays in such a way that I feel his attention is on me and I am actually being prayed for (this is in contrast with some other experiences I have had, where the priest looked quite uncertain on being confronted with my presence, and hurriedly muttered a few unintelligible words). This minimises any feeling of exclusion I might feel about not being able to take Communion. This exclusion is a key factor in non-Catholics feeling unwelcome in Catholic churches, and if more priests made the same effort, I think it could make a big difference. (St Luke's Pinner)
Inspired by the missionary example of St Augustine of Canterbury, we decided as a parish family to reach out more positively and fruitfully to all Catholics (especially those who do not regularly come to Mass) and to those other people of our town who have yet to respond to the Good News of Jesus Christ, or who are in special need (the poor, the lonely, the sick, the bereaved, etc). We have established a simple skeleton structure of small neighbourhood groupings or 'clusters' across the whole parish which are open to development according to the needs and wishes of each local area.
Read more at www.catholiceastanglia.org/plan/index.php?module=article&view=77&MMN_position=88:85
In my daughter's parish in Godalming, Surrey , I felt welcome from the first time I went to Mass there 6 years ago, and continue to do so each time. There are about 4 people in the porch of the church welcoming you with ‘smiles' ‘hellos' and ‘newsletters'. There is a Children's Liturgy for children of school age and for those not eligible, they are given a cloth tie-bag (like pump bag) which contains a soft toy, crayons, colouring in sheets and a book, to help keep them occupied and contented. At the Sign of Peace, wherever we are seated, everyone takes part in it.
As a person with little spiritual life, my only reason for going to Mass was to accompany a friend who had come to stay for the weekend. The experience was amazing: from the greeting at the door and the Canon's welcome to visitors from a variety of places (which he named), I felt an extraordinary welcome and throughout Mass there was a feeling of being in a family and surrounded by love strong enough to make me feel greatly moved and tearful. I went back alone the next week and the next and the next and every time I felt the same emotions. Shortly afterwards I joined the RCIA group to which I still belong: the teaching, encouragement, personal goodwill which flow from the people concerned continuously amaze me… I feel that the church is my other family. (Our Lady & St James, Wrexham Diocese)
The priest often asks the congregation when leaving to talk to someone they don't know or haven't spoken to before, and I have been told by many people that they have got to know more people in the congregation through this. I think it is better to phrase it this way than to ask people to talk to visitors, because often people aren't sure whether someone is a visitor or another member of the congregation whom they don't recognise (but think they ought to) and so don't approach that person. (St Luke's Pinner)
Another thing is the way in which people share the peace. Some people take the time to look the other in the eye and focus their attention on that person, before moving on to someone else, whereas others seem to just be going through the motions, without any eye contact at all. This is not confined to the Catholic church; but it makes a huge difference to the welcome someone feels - particularly, I think, if they are visiting the church. One person actually looking at you and saying sincerely, "The peace of the Lord be with you" can make you feel accepted. Conversely, when someone takes my hand and mutters a few words while looking away towards the next person, I feel belittled and rejected. (St Luke's Pinner)
In the parish of St. Thomas More at Swiss Cottage, London, new pastor Father Gerard Sheehan invited married and engaged couples to a celebration on the eve of St. Valentine's Day. About forty parishioners attended a special Mass in the Church which included a renewal of Marriage promises and a Blessing for engaged couples. After a brief reception in the parish entry the couples adjourned for a celebratory dinner in a nearby restaurant. Besides a welcome opportunity to affirm their mutual love, the occasion was a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the company of fellow parishioners. Given 'the buzz' in the restaurant that evening and subsequent feedback, it clearly proved a huge success. One of the participants, Margaret Wickware described how the event has made the celebration of Sunday Mass that much more special for her. “The faces that I have seen for the past five years not only now have names but they have great stories too – about how they have come to this country or part of London and found their way to St. Thomas More parish. Besides chatting more now with those we met, one couple has even been to our home for a visit.” |