There is a website www.nmw.org.uk which you can visit to download resources and has lots of ideas to help you to celebrate.  Although this is not a religious event there are some resources on the site that are designed for use in church groups. 

NATIONAL MARRIAGE WEEK  PACK  to assist celebrate National Marriage Week in parishes.  It comprises:

Ideas for Action;                                                    Penitential Rite;

Bidding Prayers;                                                   Communion Reflection;

Blessing for End of Mass;                                   Renewal of Marriage Vows;

Reflection of a Married Couple;                         Suggestions for Music;

Reflections written by a divorcee after National Marriage Week 2005.

Ideas for action in your Parish Community

Plan ahead and involve as many people as possible:

·        Perhaps form a group of interested parishioners to plan ways of marking National Marriage Week in the Parish.

·        Plan to make use of the liturgical material provided in this pack.

·        Arrange a special Mass with renewal of Marriage Vows and a special blessing.

·        Create a display – perhaps a collage of small wedding photos from as many people in the parish as possible.

·        Prepare a short article for the local press letting the wider community know that your parish is promoting and celebrating Marriage.

·        Link with Parish Primary School to prepare an assembly perhaps involving input from married couples.

·        Bake a ‘Wedding Cake’ for all to share with coffee after Sunday Masses.

·        Send out ‘Invitation Cards’ inviting people to pray for marriage, married couples, the separated and divorced.  (Tear off RSVP cards could be displayed with the declaration:  ‘Thank you for the invitation to support National Marriage Week through prayer – I undertake to remember this important intention in my prayers’.                     Signed_______________________

·        Invite the parish Youth Group or Confirmation Preparation group to spend some time thinking about the importance of Marriage as a sacrament.

Whatever you do please don’t let your Parish miss this opportunity to highlight, celebrate and share some of the good news about Marriage

WELCOME

The priest, deacon or other suitable minister may briefly introduce the Mass of the day.

Welcome to the Church this evening / morning.  This week all Christian churches are celebrating National Marriage Week.  During our Mass / service we will be given the opportunity to listen to prayers and readings which will support and encourage all those who are married and preparing for marriage. 

After a brief silence the priest (or other suitable minister) makes the following invocation.

Penitential Rite (1)

Lord, you make your love the foundation of our lives

                           Lord have mercy

Your love and forgiveness bring us healing and strength

                           Christ have mercy

Through our love for others you help us to reflect your own eternal love for us all

                           Lord have mercy

Penitential Rite (2)

Lord Jesus you love us with an everlasting love

                           Lord have mercy

You heal the wounds of our sin and selfishness

                           Christ have mercy

Your example of love shows us how to live in this world as your followers

                           Lord have mercy

PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL

Priest:

With the certain knowledge that our loving Father desires only the best for his children, let us pray to him with confidence.

Reader:                      Lord love us all

Congregation:            And grant us your wisdom

We pray for all those who are married, may they grow in love, patience and companionship.

Lord love us all                                              Response

We pray for those whose marriages are unhappy, broken, or at risk, may they feel your healing love, and know the joy of your peace.

Lord love us all                                              Response

Help all couples to have the courage to face their difficulties with your love, and never to despair.

Lord love us all                                              Response

May we always be caring respectful to each other, sharing a sense of humour, and thanking you daily for all our blessings?

Lord love us all                                              Response

We pray for all those who are finding living out their marriage commitment difficult.  Help us all to support them. 

Lord love us all                                              Response

Help all married couples to remember when they first met, and that strong love that grew between them.   Help them to put that love into practical things so that nothing can divide them.

Lord love us all                                              Response

Grant to all parents the strength, courage, wisdom and endurance to carry on in times of difficulty, knowing that you are always with them.

Lord love us all                                              Response

Help all children to understand the love of parents and find ways to return that love.

Lord love us all                                              Response

Let us offer our support to single parents with our love, kindness and understanding.

Lord love us all                                              Response

Grant to all that have lost a partner the knowledge that your love is always with them.

Lord love us all                                              Response

We ask Mary the mother of your Son for help for all families when we say Her special prayer

HAIL MARY

COMMUNION  REFLECTION

Ideally, the priest might like to invite a married couple to read this reflection.

Lord, your presence with us is in the Eucharist

Binds us to you and to one another in a communion of love

Open our hearts to your love

so that we may discover how to truly love others

Help us to learn this lesson

For the road from egoism to love

is a long and sometimes hard one

but it is immensely rewarding

In the Eucharist we have shared, you enable us to move beyond

our fears and anxieties, our selfishness and indifference

to seek the good of others

Lord help us to see that love has its origin in you

and that in loving others we reveal your face in the world

Lord, teach us to love.

Blessing for the End of Mass

If you are hoping to focus on marriage during a normal Parish Mass you may care to bring the celebration to a fitting conclusion by selecting one of the solemn blessings from the Missal.

Those who intend holding a special celebration, with a particular invitation to married couples, may find the following suggestions useful. 

Celebrant:      Let us pray for God’s blessing:

(Couples could be invited to hold hands and face one another)

Celebrant:      May the Lord Jesus, who was a guest at the wedding in Cana, bless you and your families and friends.

All:                 Amen

Celebrant:      May Jesus, who loved His Church to the end, always fill your hearts with His love.

All:                 Amen

Celebrant:      May He grant that, as you believe in His resurrection, so you may wait for Him in joy and hope.

All:                 Amen

Celebrant:      May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

All:                 Amen

Alternatively a simple Celtic blessing could be used

Celebrant:  May God bless you,

                      May He keep you ever in His care

                      And lead your lives with love.

All:                May God’s warm welcome shine from our hearts

                      And Christ’s own peace prevail through every day

                      Till greater life shall call.

                      Amen

Renewal of Marriage Vows

Celebrant  :  My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord Jesus called you to bear witness to him and to his love for the Church in the loving union of marriage.

You have come together today to renew your marriage vows in the presence of this community.

Will you continue to give yourselves to each other in marriage?

Husbands and Wives:               We will

Celebrant :   Will you love and honour each other as husband and wife for the rest of your lives?

Husbands and Wives:                We will

Celebrant :  Will you love and care for your children, according to the law of Christ and His Church?

Husbands and Wives:               We will

Husbands and wives are invited to join hands with each other

Husbands and Wives :    We promise to be true to each other in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health.  We will love and honour each other all the days of our lives.

Celebrant :    Lord, in their struggles help them to rejoice that you are near to them; in their needs let them know that you are there to rescue them; in their joys let them see that you are the source and completion of every happiness.

                                                   We ask this through Christ Our Lord

All                                              Amen

Reflection of a Married Couple for National Marriage Week

This week, Christians all over the country are celebrating National Marriage Week.  We are celebrating the living sign that all married couples are of that great promise of Our Lord’s when He said ‘I will be with you all days, even to the end of time’

It is a powerful message of unconditional love and deep hope and we see it in married couples when they effectively say to each other on their wedding day “Now you can be free.  I want you to really be yourself; express all your thoughts and feelings with absolute confidence in my commitment to you.  With God’s help, you need not be afraid that you will loose my love or be punished for your openness and honesty.  There may be days when we disagree or disturbing feelings come between us.  There may be times when we are psychologically miles apart and you may experience rejection and disillusionment, but I have given you my life-long commitment to love you as long as we are both alive. 

“Our love for each other is a gift from God.  So, with His help and His gifts of wisdom, understanding, gentleness and reverence for you, made in His likeness, I want you to feel free to be yourself, to tell me about your positive and negative reactions and your warm and cold feelings, and I will do the same.  I can not always predict my reactions or guarantee my strength, but there is one thing that I do know and I want you to know and that is that, with God’s help, I will not reject you from my life.  I am committed to your growth and happiness.  I will love you always.”

You can almost hear Our Lord saying that to each one of us as he invites us to pray to Him and to accept His great message of hope.

And when couples are able to live out that commitment through all the difficulties that life puts in their way, it is something really to celebrate.

At the same time, we are all aware that it does not always work out like that.  Some relationships reach the point where they are no longer life giving and reconciliation is not humanly possible.  Then, there is the great call to all of us to reach out to those that are separated so that though us, they can hear Our Lord saying ‘I still love you and I always will.  You are still part of My Church and, as long as you do not reject my love, you always will be part of My Church’.

Suggestions for Music: Taken from Hymns Old and New

Title                                                                     Hymn Numbers

The love I have for you my Lord                                        536

A New Commandment                                                            39

O, the love of my Lord is the essence                              430

 Let there be love shared among us                                  726

This then is prayer                                                                 567

If I am lacking love                                                                 232

This is what Yahweh asks of you                                      563

Reflection written by a Divorcee after

National Marriage Week 2005

How do I feel as I stand here with everyone around me celebrating the gift of Marriage?

I stand in the church, surrounded by all these happy couples.  They have come to the church together.  Whatever difficulties they face in their lives have been set aside for now and are standing here together in the presence of God, telling everyone of their desire to re-affirm their commitment to each other.

I, on the other hand, stand alone.  The person with whom I thought I was going to be spending my life, the person of my dreams; my soul mate, my friend has gone.  Beside me is an empty space.

When I was first left on my own, the feelings of rejection, betrayal, abandonment, welled up inside.  To stand here and try to repeat the marriage vows would have been impossible; even to listen to them being said would be difficult.  Each word would stick in my throat and make it impossible to carry on.  I would falter, stumble and waver.  The tears run down my cheeks.  Even in the crowd I would feel alone. 

My only thought would be my failure.  I have failed my God, my children, my partner.  After all in the past, I had stood in church, before my God and made these exact same promises.  On that day I had every intention of keeping them.  I had tried for several years in difficult circumstances to live up to those promises.  But to no avail.

On my own, I had made a long difficult journey and I am now in a different place.  I know I cannot blame myself for the breakdown of my marriage – that is unrealistic; it takes two to make a marriage work and keep it going.  Both people have to want to keep the promises, to each other and to God. 

Now I can hold by head up and say that to the best of my ability I honoured the promises I made.  Even if I still cannot say the words out aloud, I can join in with the rest of the congregation and say them silently within my heart.  For in my heart I have remained true.  My marriage gave me happy times and three wonderful children; I cannot deny them.  These give me a reason to celebrate the marriage I once had. 

I can celebrate what I once had, even if it is no more. 

MARRIAGE RESOURCES

Pocket Prayers for Marriage, Andrew & Pippa Body (Church House Publishing)

Prayers for Married Couples, Renee Bartkowski (Liguori)

Beginning Your Marriage, Thomas and Thomas (American – ACTA Publications)

Loving Against the Odds, Rob Parsons (Hodder & Stoughton)

What Binds Marriage, Timothy J Buckley CSsR, (Geoffrey Chapman)

Marriage, Faith and Love, Jack Dominian (Collins, Fount Paperbacks)

Men are from Mars Women are from Venus, John Gray (Element Books)

How to Survive Being Married to a Catholic (A Redemptorist Publication)

Making Marriage Work, M Grimmer (Cassell)

Couples Growing, T Gought (Darton, Longman and Todd)

Rethinking Marriage, C Cluiow (Karnac)

Women, Men and Marriage, C Cluiow (Sheldon Press)

A Secure Base, J Bowlby (Routledge)

Marriage according to the New Code of Canon Law, B A Siegle (Alba House, New York)

Couple Alive, Family Caring Trust (Universities Press, Belfast)

Growing In Love, ‘Married Listening’ Programme, FCT (Universities Press, Belfast)

Marriage, Together in Christ, Joseph Rice (Catholic Truth Society)

The Mystery of Christian Marriage, Peter Jeffrey (Gracewing)

The Sixty Minute Marriage Book and DVD (Care for the Family)

Connect 2 Marriage Course (Care for the Family)

MARRIAGE SUPPORT

Retrouvaille – Helping Married Couples

A new resource has become available for married couples who are experiencing difficulties in their relationship.  Entitled Retrouvaille which means ‘rediscovery’, it consists of a weekend, during which spouses are helped to communicate better with each other and a series of follow-up meetings.  The Retrouvaille Community which began in Canada has just become established in England and Wales at the invitation of the Cardinal. 

For further information:  Phone or text: 07973 380443

Website: www.retrouvaille.org.uk/           Email:info@retrouvaille.org.uk

Marriage Care

Marriage is not always easy.  Catholic Marriage Care offers counselling for individuals and couples who, at a particular moment in their lives, find themselves in distress or difficulty with those close to them. 

Counselling offers people an opportunity to understand what has happened and the effect it has had on the person or couple.  The counsellor then, within an atmosphere of absolute respect and confidentiality, helps people to explore how they would like things to be and how to make things more manageable in the future. 

All you need to do is phone to make an appointment.

Your Marriage Care contact  nos. are:

Appointment Service: 0800 389 3801      Nat. No: 0845 660 6000

Beginning Experience

Beginning Experience is a weekend programme which seeks to help separated, divorced and bereaved people to make a gentle closure on the past and start life afresh.  Weekends are held in the spring and autumn.  For further information contact A Brennand: 0151 430 6312

Resources:  Single Parent/Separated and Divorced

Divorce & second Marriage, Kevin T Kelly (Geoffrey Chapman)

All Alone, Jill Worth and Christine Tufnell, (Paternoster Lifestyle)

Single Parents in Focus, Tom Beardshaw, Guy Hordern, Christine Tufnell (Care for the Family)

MARRIAGE PREPARATION

Pastoral Guidelines

It is with an awareness of the Sacrament of Marriage within the Catholic Church that the Church hopes to show engaged couples that we care for them in all the forms of preparation we offer them. 

Importance of Preparation for Marriage

The Church recommends that an adequate period of preparation to help couples realise the seriousness of marriage, to enable them to more fully develop their relationship, and to assure that the sacrament has its full meaning and effect explained. 

To complete their preparation, it is important that couples planning to marry contact their parish priest as soon as they make the decision to marry and at least six months prior to their wedding date. 

The period of preparation allows time for the Christian community to demonstrate its love and concern to share its wisdom in support of the couple, and to assist the couple evaluate their relationship before exchanging their vows.

Marriage Preparation Content

Marriage Preparation is a part of the preparation process that provides engaged couples the opportunity to explore the meaning of a sacramental marriage.  The format includes presentations on topics such as:

            Communication;            Conflict;            Commitment.

            Sexuality/intimacy;         Self-Esteem;     Spirituality.

Time for personal reflection and couple dialogue is provided for engaged couples:

·         to explore the life they are planning together;

·         to discover their strengths, limitations, desires and goals;

·         to consider their attitudes about love, children and family;

·         to examine their role in society and their faith community.

Be assured that the course will be a comfortable and enjoyable experience throughout the day!

Marriage Preparation Courses:

MP Courses can be presented as one day courses or four evenings.  Planning the wedding liturgy requires a separate meeting with the presiding priest or deacon.

Courses are an opportunity to think about your marriage and not just the wedding preparations which can get quite fraught.

Love one another as I have loved you

Faith, hope and love

And the greatest of these is love

Marriage Preparation Providers:

The Diocese of Shrewsbury has over 60 Marriage Preparation Providers working in parishes and deaneries throughout the diocese.  The majority are trained by Marriage Care and use their materials.  Many work for Marriage Care and many work as a diocesan resource.  In all cases the MPPs give their time freely. 

To train to be a Marriage Preparation Provider to run the courses for engaged couples please contact Clara Donnelly

Marriage Preparation Resources :

Water Made Wine, M Grimer (Darton, Longman and Todd

The Marriage Book, How to Build a Lasting Relationship, Speaker Notes and MP DVD set, Nicky & Sila Lee (Alpha International Publication )

Rules of Engagement, Katherine&Richard Hill(Care for the Family, Lion Hudson plc)

Growing Together, Andrew Body (ISBN 0 7151 4049)

PARENTING

The Family Caring Trust Parenting Programmes have been used in our diocese for over 20 years.  The Programmes offer:

Fresh, thought provoking ideas;

Common sense suggestions;

Effective support for parents dealing with children from 0-19 years and anybody else living in the family home;

Improvement in relationships between children and parents to make for positive, confident parenting;

To build on and add to parents' exisiting skills.

The purpose of the programmes is to help us find our own ways of enjoying our children more, while also being more effective as parents.  Thousands of people have tried them and found them helpful.  The programmes are enjoyable and relaxing and are created by parents for parents. 

All parents struggle at some time.  The difficulties are not confined to a particular class, creed, education, income, location, nationality or race.  My own approach to parenting has been helped considerably by meeting with other parents to talk about our concerns, share ideas for strategies that work and follow a clear, well organised, well structured and very well informed programme.  (I am by no means a perfect parent, I am always learning – Clara Donnelly). 

Quite simply nothing else in life demands as much of us in terms of time or emotional energy and almost nothing else has as much potential to effect change in the world as our parenting of our children.

As you know the call of God for most of us involves the sacred task of raising our children to be loving, responsible adults, and this is what the programmes help parents achieve. 

Pope John Paul II said that “God himself is present in human fatherhood and motherhood” (Letter to Families section9).  Jesus taught us to call God our Father.  This tells us something not only about God’s great love for all his children but also about the importance of human parenthood!

Some of the comments parents have said after experiencing a programme:

·         “I don’t feel isolated, I feel supported”

·         “The course has encouraged me to look at my family in a totally different way, I have thoroughly enjoyed it”

·         “Excellent, worthwhile, thought provoking and a highly beneficial experience”

·         “Made some new friends and seen different approaches to parenting”

·         “Made me more aware of all aspects of bringing up my child”

·         “A special time to listen and share.  Brilliant-thanks!”

THANK GOD FOR PARENTS

Families are God’s idea – so let’s continue to support and care and pray for all those we know, as they continue the toughest job in the world: PARENTING!

WHO ARE THE PROGRAMMES FOR?

           The programmes are for ordinary parents:

·         Single;   Married;   Separated; Divorced;   Living with partner

The Programmes recognise that each parent is different, their family background different and their children different.

Parents often find that what works with one child doesn’t work with the other or even with the same child at different times.

WHAT ARE THE AIMS OF THE PROGRAMMES?  

·         The principal aim of the Programmes is to help parents improve the way they communicate with their children

·         Parent support

·         Builds community

·         Christian Ethos:  We are all made in the image of God and God is love.  We are called to behave in this way, to respect, care and love our children. 

HOW TO BECOME A PARENTING LEADER?

There are 25 leaders in the Diocese and many lead one programme per year.  Leaders usually work in pairs to support each other.  You do not need to go to a parenting academy or on a course to lead these parenting programmes!  I (Clara Donnelly) will give you the necessary training and give you the support you need to lead a course. Being a participant on one of the programmes before becoming a leader gives you better insight to what it is all about.  There is NO teaching! You require no special expertise in parenting as the input for the courses comes from:

·         Video/DVD; leader’s guide and participant’s handbook. 

FAMILY CARING TRUST PROGRAMMES AVAILABLE

The ‘Noughts to Sixes’ Parenting Programme: ‘From Pram to Primary School’

Seven or eight weekly sessions offering effective parenting support to parents of babies, toddlers, pre-schoolers or children in the first few years of primary school.  Simply written, jargon-free, common sense approach.  Produced in co-operation with Barnardos.  The boxed kit includes audio-visual input, incorporating the BBC’s acclaimed QED programme on parenting (choose either DVD or video format – both are supplied), two leader’s guides, twenty five certificates and one copy of the parent’s handbook.  

The ‘Fives to Fifteens’ Parenting Programme: ‘What can a Parent Do?’

Eight weekly sessions to help parents of children five to fifteen years old to improve their communication skills and create a framework of discipline and respect in their families.  The boxed kit includes about ten minutes’ audio-visual input for each session (choose either DVD or video format – both are supplied) two leader’s guides, twenty five certificates and one copy of the parent’s handbook.

The ‘Parenting Teenagers’ Programme: ‘What can the Parent of a Teenager Do?’

Six to eight weekly sessions to reinforce the same parenting skills while dealing with the more difficult situations met in the teen years.  Because it is so important to reinforce skills being learnt, it is recommended that parents of teenagers experience the Fives to Fifteens programme first though this is not essential.  The kit includes audio-visual input (choose either DVD or video format – both are supplied) two leader’s guides, twenty five certificates, and one copy of the parent’s handbook. 

The ‘Parent Assertiveness’ Programme:  ‘Being Assertive’

Seven weekly sessions learning basic assertive skills applied to the workplace or neighbourhood, but especially to family situations.  A good way of complementing what has been learnt in the other parenting programmes.  Produced in co-operation with Barnardos.  The boxed kit includes audio-visual input (choose either DVD or video format – both are supplied), two leader’s guides and one copy of the participant’s handbook. 

The ‘Parenting and Sex’ Programme: ‘Parenting and Sex’

Five weekly sessions to help parents learn skills for talking, and getting children talking about sex (parents are often overlooked in the sex-education process that targets schools and youth clubs).  Preferably for parents of primary school children, but it also looks at areas like dating, television viewing, and peer pressure.  The kit consists of two leader’s guides and a copy of the parent’s handbook. 

Participant’s handbooks for all these courses cost £6.50 which can be paid for on a weekly basis.

OTHER PARENTING RESOURCES

The Sixty Minute Father, Rob Parsons (Care for the Family, Hodder and Stoughton)

The Sixty Minute Mother, Rob Parsons (Care for the Family, Hodder and Stoughton)

What Every Kid Wished Their Parents Knew, Rob Parsons (Care for the Family, H&S)

Learning to Step Together, National Stepfamily Associationm, Tim Kahn (ISBN 1 873309 17 1)

All Family Caring Trust Parenting Programmes (Universities Press, Belfast):

‘Pram to Primary’/‘5s to 15’s’/‘Parenting Teenagers’/‘Parenting and Sex’/

‘Parenting Assertiveness’

FAMILY RESOURCES

Cherishing Life, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of  England and Wales (CTS)

A Letter to Families, Pope John Paul II, (NACF Publications/Hell Yer Press, Leeds)

Families and How to Survive Them, R Skinner and J Cleese (Methuen)

Family Life (Familiaris Consortio) Pope John Paul II (Catholic Truth Society)

LINKS

Listening 2004: My Family My Church –  www.listening2004.org.uk/

Celebration Family: Blessed, Broken, Living Love (2006-2008)www.celebratingfamily.org.uk

Everybody’s Welcome (2006) – www.everybodyswelcome.org.uk/

Home is a Holy Place (2007) – www.homeisaholyplace.org.uk/

Passing on the Faith (2008) –  www.passingonthefaith.org.uk/

Come and See (2005-2010) – www.comeandsee.org.uk/

Catholic Bishops’ Conference – www.catholicchurch.org.uk/

National Marriage Week – www.nmw.org.uk/

Inter Faith Marriages www.interfaithmarriage.org.uk/

Family Friendly Churches – www.familyfriendlychurches.org.uk/

INTernational Academy for Marital Spirituality (INTAMS) www.intams.com/

Teams of Our Lady –  www.teamsofourlady.org.uk/

Marriage Care – www.marriagecare.org.uk/U

Family Caring Trust – www.familycaring.co.uk/U

Care for the Family –  www.careforthefamily.org.uk/U

Fathers Direct – www.fathersdirect.com/U

Smart Marriages –  www.smartmarriages.com/U

Students Exploring Marriage – www.exploringmarriage.org.uk/U

Seasonal Meditations –  www.sacredspace.ie/U

Info and Research on Health Marriage (US) – www.healthymarriageinfo.org/U

Reflections on Mass Readings and other resources –www.liturgy.slu.edu/U

Consultancy on Adult Formation – www.christianfs.info/U

Catholic Men’s Group – www.harvesters.org.uk/U – (includes a ladies page)

Association of Separated and Divorced Catholics – www.asdcengland.org.uk/U

Divorce, Death, Separation healing – www.beginningexperience.org/U

Help for Couples in crisis – www.retrouvaille.org.uk/U

2006 - Welcoming Family Friendly parishes

EVERYBODY’S WELCOME

·   To offer understanding, friendship and support.

·  To be a source of help in times of need.

·  To encourage and celebrate all family life whether married, widowed, single, divorced, separated, with children or without.

“The challenge is to build highly loving supportive communities within our parishes for all of us, including our families”.   

Deanery Reps were appointed to take the Everybody’s Welcome Project forward.  They were each  given a Ministry of Welcome Book and ‘Tips for’ leaflet for each parish rep.  All parish priests were written to requesting that they appoint a parish rep to work with the deanery rep and also sent a Ministry of Welcome Book and ‘Tips for’ leaflet for each parish.  Eleven deaneries are working with some form of structure to help parishes to become more welcoming:

What has happened in parishes as a result of the EW Project?

·         Parish representatives spoke at Masses;

·         Church notice boards were revamped inside and out;

·         Flower baskets were placed at the entrance to church;

·         Bags made available for children – contents - soft toy, pictures to colour with crayons and story book;

·         Word ‘Welcome’ on a banner in different languages in porch of church;

·         Welcoming group at Baptisms;

·         More involvement with children at family Mass;

·         Social gatherings specifically to get people to know each other within the parish;

·         Marriage and Family Life Notice Boards inside church with leaflets displayed and up-to-date information;

·         Discussion regarding children with special needs and their attendance at Mass – how do we include them?

·         Parish website set up;

·         An unsightly Council bin was removed from the wall of the church grounds;

·         Discussion at deanery level with representatives from each parish.  Meetings take place in a different parish each time;

·         Discussion with various parish groups on the EW ‘Tips leaflet’;

·         Welcome/information area being set up at rear of church;

·         Parish Welcome booklet produced.

The need to be an inclusive church is as great as ever. 

 To read or download any of the following: 

1. 1.    Making Everybody Welcome, Tips for Becoming a More Welcoming Parish
2. 2.    Ministry of Welcome Book  or
3. 3.    Specific leaflets on:

'What is life like if you and your family Share Life and Love but not faith in God?'

'What is life like if you and your family Share your Christian Faith within two different Church Traditions?'

'What is life like if your or someone in your family is Bereaved or has suffered a loss?'

'What is life like if your or someone in your family has a Mental Health Problem?'

'What is life like if you or someone in your family is Divorced and Remarried?'

'What is life like if your or someone in your family is Disabled or has Learning Difficulties?'

2007 - Marital and Family Spirituality  

HOME IS A HOLY PLACE

·        To share the holiness of our homes as places of life, love, service, teaching, fellowship, witness and prayer. 

·        To celebrate the presence of God as love in all loving family relationships.

 “A broader understanding of marital and family spirituality among both clergy and laity will be fundamental to the success of any future work by the church in support of family life.”  

 Vision Statement

• Home is a holy place because God as love is present
• Home is a holy place because family relationships mirror God-in-relationship
• Home is a holy place because God's presence graces all creation

The Bishops recently approved the Vision and Goals statement for Home is a Holy Place.  A multimedia pack including a DVD resource is now in development and will be available free of charge to parishes in the summer of 2008.

In proclaiming Home is a Holy Place the working group are making NO CLAIM that instances of deep pain and hurt (what some have described as messiness) within family life are, of themselves, holy.  RATHER, by acknowledging that God is ever-present, especially in the deepest suffering.

What Bishop John Hine, Chairman of  the Committee for Marriage & Family Life of the Bishops’ Conference said?

“Families actually live a great deal of holiness in the life they live but they have never named it and claimed it as such. When you read the Listening 2004 report the generous self-giving of time, attention, love, forgiveness, affirmation, support and so on jump out of the pages. But none of this was identified as family spirituality! We clearly need to do more to identify and celebrate God’s presence at home.”

What Bishop Brian said?  

We may not readily equate the presence of God with the rough and tumble that is family life, but in truth, home and family are holy ground..... It's here the foundations of trust are securely laid when love is experienced as gift and not reward.  It's here that failure is met with forgiveness, and self-doubt with reassurance.  And it's here that parents first introduce us to the God from whose hands we come; in whose image and likeness we're fashioned; and with whom lies our destiny.  Home and family are indeed holy ground where God is at work - through working through us. 

What Archbishop V Nichols said? (Birmingham Diocese)

What exactly do we mean when we say ‘home is a holy place’?  We are not saying that all must be well for home to be holy.  Holiness is not about having successful children, a tidy house, or even a very solid marriage.  Nor is holiness simply about having a routine of family prayer, although that helps. 

What do we mean?

Holiness is about having eyes for God.  It is about being ready to respond to God’s presence in ways that are generous and brave.  Holiness is about seeing beneath the surface of daily events and having the courage to know that God is at work in them even if they don’t make sense to us.  Holiness is walking every minute with God.  Seeking holiness is tough going. 

To read or download more information:  color=#0000ffwww.homeisaholyplace.org.uk/U

2008 - Helping parents and grandparents pass on faith

PASSING ON THE FAITH 

·        To provide more support, tools and resources.

·        To respect the role of the home and to see where it fits in with the school and the parish.

·        To provide comfort and healing when necessary.

“Parents expressed a need for more help in raising their children in the Faith, both in terms of deepening their own understanding and being able to integrate it into the life of the home”  www.passingonthefaith.org.uk/U