Celebrating Family Diocesan Projects: Diocese of Nottingham
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The Diocese of
Nottingham has received a grant of £34,000 over three years
from the Celebrating Family Fund to employ a
Part-time worker to develop a modular programme of support for parents in
praying with their children.
In
2006 Bishop Malcolm McMahon, in his
implementation of Nottingham Diocese’s pastoral plan,
recognised the
need for a new, more flexible approach to Marriage and Family Life (MFL)
ministry. The Bishop
recommended a review of Diocesan Commissions and Fr John Sherrington was
appointed to develop the work - leading to a re-structuring of the
existing MFL Commission. The
long term objective of the new Commission was to establish networks of
parish based MFL contacts; promote marriage and family life through the
celebration of key events and support the spirituality of couples and
families.
The
2004 Diocesan Assembly and the Bishop’s consultation with parishes identified the need for greater assistance in the development of family
prayers and domestic spirituality. But
the funds were not available to employ a lay person to take the work on.
However, with the creation of the Celebrating Family
Fund
in 2007, the opportunity that the diocese had been waiting for came.
They made a successful application which enabled them to
employ a dedicated Project Worker to launch a three year initiative
entitled, ‘Praying With your Children at Home’.
The aim of the project was to bridge the spiritual gap between
birth and school, by supporting parents as the primary agents of their
children’s faith development. The
diocese hoped that success in this endeavour would provide a foundation
stone on which schools and parishes could build.
There were
few existing initiatives, either within Nottingham Diocese or nationally on praying at home with children. And
without such precedents, the project would have to create its own
‘blueprint’. The diocese initially decided to focus on
parents with pre-school children, offering them advice, companionship and
support. The project would seek
to develop techniques and methods of prayer for children, sensitive to the
wide diversity of cultures in Nottingham, and the fact that
English is a second language for a significant number of residents.
The project would also identify creative ways of praying with
children with special needs.
A
recruitment campaign was launched and Susan Sanderson was appointed as the
dedicated Project Worker on 1st September 2008.
The project was overseen by a Management Group which would offer
support and advice to Susan during her tenure.
The Group comprised Fr John Sherrington (also the Diocesan MFL
Coordinator), a member of the Diocesan Finance Office and lay
professionals working in MFL ministry and Education.
At the time of her appointment Susan also began an MA in Leadership
for Family Ministry and Faith Formation – a distance learning Master’s
offered by the Dominican University in Chicago.
Susan
hoped to make contact with parents through sacramental programmes,
Baptismal preparation, first Holy Communion and parenting groups, and,
with their help, to develop a bank of resources for use across the
diocese. Her first priority was to establish contact with existing parish
representatives involved in education and catechesis – building
relationships and enlisting support for the delivery of the project.
The management team planned to pilot the project in one parish
before developing a strategy for the diocese as a whole.
Families would help to evaluate the pilot and volunteers would be
trained to roll-out the programme.
It
quickly became clear that one of the biggest challenges would be actually gaining
access to families with young children.
Unless they attended Church and were actively involved in parish
life, or had older
children enrolled in formal sacramental programmes, there was no natural
point of contact with these families.
The relative ‘invisibility’ of the target group made physically
getting started a real challenge. The
size of the diocese was also a contributing factor – large and
widespread, with many parishes running only intermittent Baptism
programmes and many lacking either school affiliated nurseries or toddler
groups. Susan persevered and
managed to set up three initial exploratory meetings in Leicester, Lincoln
and Nottingham. She used these
forums to raise awareness of the project’s goals and to identify
potential MFL parish contacts.
Susan presented some of the material she was
beginning to develop – including literature for parents on how to
nurture their child’s relationship with God.
She suggested that Bible stories were a great way to start, firing
the child’s imagination and helping them to appreciate the unique
qualities that make each one of them special to God.
Susan recommended ways of increasing the spirituality of the home
throughout the liturgical year – with suggested activities, prayers and
acts of charity during Advent, Lent and at Harvest
Festival time. Susan
produced three excellent newsletters which were disseminated to parishes.
And she began to implement an existing idea for the production of ‘Teddy
Prayer Bear’ bags for pre-school children.
The
management group working closely with Susan to get the project off the
ground, but the specific challenges of the initiative proved too
great and the original deadline for the launch of the project pilot passed
without a firm plan in place. The
project goals were adjusted accordingly but Susan resigned, for personal
reasons, in April 2010
and the diocese made the difficult decision to suspend the project.
Prayer
bags for children have since been produced by the MFL Commission (baptism
bags, toddler bags and Teddy Prayer Bear bags for 3-5 year olds). Today the MFL
Commission continues to encourage, support and enrich marriage within the
diocese, nurturing family life, providing ministry to those experiencing
relationship problems and networking with other diocesan organisations
which support marriage and family life. Key events for 2011 include the
annual Marriage Mass which was held on 13th February 2011,
presided over by Bishop Malcolm, and a dementia awareness/support day
planned for autumn 2011. The
diocese is also working on the Angelus Project; the development of local
Marriage Preparation programmes, and, following the launch of CEDAR,
developing support structures for those experiencing domestic abuse.
For
more information about these and other MFL initiatives in the diocese
please contact Fr John Sherrington
Donate to the Celebrating Family Fund
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